Chuck Vs The New Partner
by Balthazar497
Summary: So Chuck is the top agent at the CIA and is currently serving his fifth year at the agency, after numerous partners he is being forced to work with the infamous Sarah Walker the only other agent considered equal to Chuck. 100% CHARAH,better summary inside
1. Chuck meets his match

CHUCK VS THE NEW PARTNER

This is my first Fic that I have ever had the courage to let other people read, and after trolling the site reading as many Chuck Fics as possible I decided I would try my hand at it (this of course being after what one would consider to be an unhealthy consumption of red bull and suffering from a glorious caffine high) , I hope you enjoy and can grit your teeth long enough to read through the first chapter this will be a continuing piece if just for my own twisted amusement with regular updates, no fixed pattern but atleast one chapter a week.

So Chuck is the top agent at the CIA and is currently serving his fifth year at the agency, after numerous partners (which will be covered a little deeper as to why there not around) he is being forced to work with the infamous Sarah Walker the other Agent who is currently tied with him for the top spot with zero chance of them getting reassignment and avoiding each other, will these two be able to overcome there love hate relationship and feel something deeper, or will they let their personal differences get in the way? 120% CHARAH (because those two are so epic they just need the extra 20%)

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20:23 Langley, Virginia, 2007

As the tall curly haired agent walked down the all too familiar but near empty halls of the Langley his body moved on auto pilot and his senses actively searched out danger on a subconscious level, his mind was left to wander on how exactly he ended up here. Five years ago if you had asked him that he would be the CIA's top agent.....ok tied for the top agent position he would have laughed and told you to get some help, but then again here he was into his fifth year of his sky rocketing career, faithful protégé to the director of the CIA and still only being what most would consider as fresh out of training. Not that this super spy didn't have his own hang ups as he had already gone through seven partners in such a short time, he didn't really have a problem with other agents but he never could build much of a trust relationship with them and that was key in his mind, plus he found the whole partners are allowed in fact, expected to have sex during lengthy assignments in deep cover operations to be completely ridiculous.

Charles 'Chuck' Carmichael didn't even acknowledge the presence of Graham's personal secretary 'Denise' as he walked into the spacious waiting room, even from a distance you could tell she was a trained agent that not only worked the office but doubled as a security guard for the Director, perhaps to a civilian or even some lesser agents this woman would be more than convincing she didn't exactly radiate trained killer with her petite frame and short mahogany hair, but the way she focused more on her surroundings than the keyboard, and the way she favoured the slight bulge on her left side, no doubt a firearm, left little doubt in his mind.

Normally he enjoyed speaking to people when he could he found it reminded him he was still human, but after the last couple of visits and her over the top flirting despite his lack of interest he was forced to keep his distance if only for the sake of his sanity, she knew who he was and why he was there and would call him in once the director was ready for him. The slightly less than comfortable waiting chairs, which he suspected were designed on purpose to help make people nervous while they endured the ridiculously long waiting periods for their own meetings, and his attempts at avoiding eye contact with Denise forced his mind to delve back into his memories, training in particular.

Chuck's time at training or the 'Spy factory' as he like to refer to it was probably the most tasking and difficult thing he had done in his life up to that point, and yet he was not only good at it he excelled, within just a year at the camp with no previous training he had managed to break at least half of the current records held, these currently held by marines turned spies not nerds to spies.

He considered his specialties all of which he held the records for, to be:-

_Hand To Hand Combat _

_Stealth & Evasion tactics _

_Observation & Tracking _

_Small arms _

_Electronic Warfare (Chuck knew if there was any class he would do well in it would be this one, due to his nerdish tendencies which no amount of spy training had been able to remove, he was practically able to teach the class about halfway into the training, not that he didn't pick up a trick or two in his hacking repertoire thanks to the classes. _

_And begrudgingly he was tied with his nemesis in infiltration and inducement of enemy personnel. _

His nemesis was someone he had never even met, and they had certainly never done anything to offend him, in fact all he's ever been told was the **she **was the reason he had broken only **half** of the Spy Factory's records because she had not only topped the previous year's scores but his own, which by far would have been sufficient enough to secure Chuck as the most accomplished trainee to ever come out of the camp. Now he had never been an arrogant person nor has he ever had need to feed his ego but just like when he was at High school & Stanford he strove for perfection, if he had no chance of ever beating the records he would have been fine with it but the fact was he had been, very close in fact and the only reason he wasn't was because of someone else's unwitting interference. Still Chuck could not deny the great respect he felt for his nemesis who not only competed equally with him in training (although they had never actually met) but still prevented him from becoming top agent, there was no actual numbering system in the CIA for such positions but based on mission success's it spread like wildfire who was the best of the best, and apparently it had been a standing argument between the lower floor analysts who was superior to whom.

Although never meeting her he had been able to gleam some facts about the mystery agent just as he was sure she also did to him if she was even half as good as the reports claimed, his mental notes currently consisted:-

_Name: Unknown __  
_

_Known Aliases: Katie O'Connell, Jennifer Burton, And Sarah Anderson _

_Current Alias: Sarah Walker __  
_

_DOB: Unknown_

_Place of Birth: Unknown, USA __  
_

_Current status: Active Top Level CIA Field Operative __  
_

_Specialised Skills: Bladed weapons, Chemical Warfare & Resistance, Heavy Arms (Sniping, Explosives etc) Mission Prep (Equipment gathering, Cover Building, Document counterfeiting) Improvised Weaponry, Infiltration and Inducement of Enemy Personnel__  
_

_Hair Colour: Blonde__  
_

_Eye Colour: Blue__  
_

_Sex: Female_

A recruits that he trained with who had claimed to have seen the blonde enigma had said that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and that even if he knew she was an enemy operative he would gladly let her kill him just so that he could get closer to her for those few extra seconds, coincidentally that was also when Chuck learned that he had lost out on the top heavy weapons ranking when another recruit pointed out to the love struck puppy that she wouldn't even need to get close to him as she could more than easily kill him from just under a mile away.

Chuck was rather surprised himself that he had managed to tie with the infamous ice queen Sarah Walker in Seduction classes, both only having failed once to entice their targets in training, and no surprise that Carina Hanson had scored the top position in that class without failing on a single target, now that was a spy that Chuck would rather chew off his left arm than work with again after her flair for improvisation kicked in on their joint CIA/DEA operation last year in London. He could only accredit his success in that class due to his luck in being one of only five operatives given chance to train with the legendary Roan Montgomery, Roan had personally taken Chuck under his wing and taught him more than a few seduction techniques, although confusingly he also told him not to rely on those very same techniques too much as it was what he liked to call Chuck's own innocent charm that would strike a chord with the female populace, that didn't help his understanding of the female psyche as Chuck had never been much of a hit with the ladies before becoming a spy, hell the only woman he had ever really been with outside of a mission was Jill and that was just train wreck after train wreck so he couldn't really say he understood even now what Roan meant when he said to essentially be himself with just a tad bit spy Chuck in the mix, but the scores speak for themselves and whatever he was doing was working so he was just going to go with the flow.

He was broken out of his reverie when a flicker of motion registered in the corner of his eye, Denise had finally stood up and signalled for that Chuck could go through to the Director's office, still Chuck didn't have any business in their... no this was Agent Charles Carmichael's territory so he let his agent persona slip over his mind as he silently got up of the chair and made his way to the plush office that belonged to Arthur Graham sparing one of his patented charming Carmichael smiles in the direction of Denise before he gently pried open the door and let his body slink in through the door.

After sealing the door behind him, which he had a sneaking suspicion was bullet proof.....and maybe even radiation proof, he turned around to be met with the sombre looking and equally large man that was Arthur Graham Director of the CIA deeper into the room behind his desk and before that closer to Charles was the most glorious colour of golden hair he had ever seen nestled neatly into the grand chairs in front of him, he imagined running his fingers through it and the thought send a shiver down his spine. After a moment longer than was probably considered appropriate he remembered that he was currently burning a hole into the back of an innocent woman's head for no other reason than she had nice hair and he was doing just that in front of the analytical eyes of his boss, correcting he positioned himself closer to the desk and more specific the chair next to the mystery guest, however he made no motion to sit down until he was told as even though he and Graham had built a good repertoire over the years he still respected the man greatly, after all he was the one who had interviewed Chuck after Flemings recommendation and was responsible for creating Charles Carmichael.

Graham smiled at the usual antics of Carmichael as he waited to be seated and made a hand motion signalling the go ahead in which Charles quickly manoeuvred himself into the seat, taking a few moments to arrange his thoughts he quickly got to the point as his two guests both had a lot of work to do after he was through with this meeting, he was just praying he could get out of this with just a small migraine, separate both of his guests had the potential to give him a massive headache once they their stubborn streaks engaged, together though he was likely to have a brain aneurysm, "I apologize for the late meeting but I'll make this brief and to the point as I can assure you your both going to be quite busy over the coming months, lately it has come to my attention that you have both gone through multiple partners in rapid succession thanks to absolute ridiculous reasons that you have concocted......and that is why effective immediately you are both to be assigned as partners to each other with zero chance of reassignment under penalty of your deployment to the coldest Antarctic outpost to watch penguin chatter for the rest of your lives and a complete halt to any career advancement." He chose to let the words sink in for a moment, he would never actually think of losing either of these agents both were the best, and he couldn't believe Carmichael had influenced him so much but they were the best agents produced from the Spy Factory to be seen in the last twenty five years but of course they didn't need to know that, and even with the facts as they were neither were above punishment and were still susceptible to a heavy suspension if they messed this up. In a matter of 30 seconds Graham was preparing to end this little get together before the shock wore off and the two agents began to voice their obvious and loud opinions, " Agent Carmichael it is with great pleasure that I introduce to you your new and permanent partner Agent Sarah Walker, and vice versa to you Walker" He couldn't quite discern the emotions that played across the two super spies faces as they turned to look at each other for the first time, but even the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency was not going to miss his chance to poke this situation with the proverbial stick, "Look at it this way...." amusement dripping from his words, "you two might as well be married, for real"

Both their heads shot towards his direction so fast he was surprised they managed to avoid snapping their own necks at that sudden movement, outrage was clear across both of their faces...............and the seed of something else that he hadn't seen for a very long time between two people, this could be even more interesting than he had originally envisioned they were either going to devastate their enemies efforts across the world in potentially the most volatile and dangerous team to ever be created or walker and Carmichael were going to blow themselves up in the process.

**

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**So hopefully I didnt just waste 10 minutes of someones evening their by posing this, I hope you enjoyed it becuse the next chapter will be up within the next day or so this time in Sarah's POV. Okso im not going to badger you for reviews but I will dutifully read them if anyone sees fit to take some time to give me their hopefully honest opinions and I will reply ASAP, always glad to communicate with the chuck fans of the world. I think I just want to make one thing clear incase theres any confusion both Chuck and Sarah have the same skill set but I just recorded their speciallty......um subjects I guess well whatever you want to call it neither are bad in a paticular skill just everyone is better than someone else at something right? after all their super spies right? They can do anything even fly......maybe?


	2. Sarah meets her match

CHUCK VS THE NEW PARTNER

- Sarah meets her match –

Well okay first off im more than amazed at the response I got for the first chapter and I can only say I feel more motivated than ever to continue and I hope that I can keep everyone interested so thank you to everyone who took time out of their lives to read and review my fic.

As I said there was a much much bigger response than anticipated so I cant really deliver speedy replies like I promised, I'll do my best to respond to any questions you have for me and any advice you give me I will do my best to take to heart and apply to later chapters. On that note many of you pointed out the bold text made things difficult to read I had to agree and have made changes, if you still feel the display could be improved dont be afraid to let me know.

By the way I told you I would get this chapter out by today.

Lets see I feel like I should cover the disclaimer and point out that I dont own Chuck, but I'm sure everyone has figured that out already.

And last thing I've decided that certain images such as cars, weapons, certain equipment, buildings will be posted on my profile just to help with the imagery and all that.

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20:17 Langley, Virginia 2007

The black Porsche roared into the employee parking garage after over five minutes of being rigorously checked on its way into the Central Intelligence Agency, the car lot all but empty due to the late evening. Not long after the car pulled up next to a rather nice 'Silver Aston Martin DB9'and become stationery did a long and sculptured leg step its way out of the driver's seat and onto the asphalt, which was quickly followed by a graceful and equally toned body.

This epitome of the female form quickly and efficiently navigated her way across the parking garage and climbed into the elevator that would take her up to the CIA Director's floor, the very man who had recruited her into her profession just five years prior.

The elevator rose quickly and without the annoyingly simple music so that within no time at all Agent Sarah Walker was stepping out of the elevator with a small ding and capturing all eyes of the few intelligence analysts that had stayed late for projects they were currently assigned to on this particular floor of the building, wasting no time she walked with a confident stride towards the Director's waiting area her dark business suit helping to project her self-assured work aura as well as also hugging her hips tightly and showing off the fantastic figure hidden underneath.

Her trained eyes quickly registered Graham's long time secretary Denise who she knows for a fact after considerable research on the side was a 5'4 32 year old brunette, who had graduated with top honours from 'The Farm' and had served two years of active field assignments before being reassigned to being the Director's personal security detail whilst he was at Langley. She placed herself in one of the chairs waiting to be called into the office, effectively ignoring the slightly older woman at her desk just as she always did; Sarah Walker never made any attempt to talk to people who were outside her current mission objectives, talking lead to familiarity and that lead to personal information exchange, which was a severe risk to any spy let along one who had as many issues as she did, friends only lead to vulnerability and pain.

Since she had time to herself for a few minutes for no other reason than Graham's need to create an atmosphere Sarah decided to block out the rest of the room, or at least as much as she felt as comfortable doing for a spy, and just relax for a while unfortunately this had an undesired effect and she couldn't help but recollect her time in the CIA.

Sarah's time during training was probably the most exhilarating and frustrating thing experience she had ever had up to that point, exhilarating because she had the opportunity to meet other who could match her and even teach her new skills and give her a purpose, an honourable purpose one that didn't involve conning cash cows for their funds, and even though she would still be lying and cheating through 96% of her work with the CIA it made the world a better place. And to top it all off she was proving to be the best trainee the facility had ever seen, after years of perfecting her covers perfection needed to be a part of everything she set out to achieve, Sarah Walker accepted nothing but the best.

However frustration walked hand in hand with her excitement and it took the form of one Charles Carmichael, after being informed of his continued attempts at preventing her from breaking every record 'The Farm' currently held she took it upon herself to look up the mystery agent who she was also informed by another female agent was cute but also incredibly sexy all at the same time, Sarah didn't quite understand how someone could do both but her curiosity was quickly channelled in a different way:-

_Name: Unknown __  
_

_Known Aliases: Jordan Phillips, Rhys Jones, And Charles Carmichael _

_Current Alias: Charles Carmichael __  
_

_DOB: Unknown_

_Place of Birth: Unknown, USA __  
_

_Current status: Active Top Level CIA Field Operative __  
_

_Specialised Skills: __Hand To Hand Combat, Stealth & Evasion tactics__, Observation & Tracking, Small Arms, Electronic Warfare, And Infiltration and Inducement of Enemy Personnel_

___Hair Colour: Brown_

_____Eye Colour: Brown _

_Sex: Male _

Normally Sarah would be intrigued and impressed by someone so skilled but this person was her Enemy even if he didn't know it, this man was stopping her from being the best and that did more to piss her off than she thought was possible for someone whose face she had never even seen. The worst part was even after all these years later he was still an obstacle for her although he gave her something to compete against and thus stopping her from getting sloppy in her confidence the man perturbed her and prevented her from being able to hold her head up higher as the CIA's **undisputed** number one.

A few months ago on a secure line with Carina, probably the only person she trusted to any kind of a degree and not as a threat at least when she was not improvising, Carina spoke of working with this Carmichael on a confidential mission moths prior somewhere in the UK and that even though she felt he could be a little naive and a little to 'good' for the profession he was an exceptional spy and probably saved her life on that assignment, this was old news to Sarah as those she spoke with especially the females usually referred to him being a nice guy, and in fact she would have been disappointed if he had performed any less after all if he was supposed to be competing against Agent Sarah Walker albeit unknowingly or at least she assumed he didn't know they were competing, he had better work to her high standards.

All though Carina had managed to surprise her once and that was a difficult thing even before he spy training, Carmichael had rebuffed all of Carina 'The Carnivores' advances and ruined her perfect seduction record in the process, if nothing else she had to find some way to thank him for that too long had Carina held her single failure during training over her head.

Before her mind could fall deeper into itself her eyes darted towards the motion off to her side, Denise was signalling Sarah to go on through, and without much more than a curt nod **AGENT **Walker proceeded into the office of Arthur Graham.

20:20 Langley, Virginia 2007

Walker proceeded into Graham's office with little more than a glance at his face as she unceremoniously and yet still gracefully into one of the overly grand office chairs, she always felt like she had a very limited amount of control when she was around this man and this one single act of disrespect was her defiant way of trying to get it back, although Graham never seemed to mind her actions and for whatever reason that unnerved her all the more it was like he knew what she was going to do and just watched everything play out like he had written her role in the conversation himself.

It didn't take him long to sit down in his own seat and begin his debriefing, "Whilst I'm sure your expecting our normal debriefing session Agent Walker I'm afraid today's meeting will be a little different...." his eyes narrowed even more if it was possible as if he almost didn't want to say the next part, "In around five minutes someone will be coming to join us in the meeting and I will go over tonight's main topic then, but until he arrives I would like to go over one aspect of your last mission or to be more precise your ex-partner, Agent Larkin" Crap! She was expecting some kind of reprimand for her actions but being the CIA and having more important things to do Walker assumed she had more time until they got around to punishing her.

On Agent walker's last mission she and Bryce Larkin had been tasked with infiltrating a particular social circle within high society who were suspected of drug trafficking to support their lifestyles. They were to spend two weeks cementing their covers with their marks as a young married couple and making observations before attempting any arrests, however three days into the operation Bryce had tried to take the cover a little further in their hotel room one night and she broke his thumb, index, pinkie and left wrist effectively excluding him from field operations for the next month or two. The only thing that had stopped the mission from being a complete failure and thus ruing her perfect string of successes was her incredible skill and more than a small dash of improvisation.

Walker had never quite agreed with Partner relationships even though they were not forbidden and even expected they were frowned upon for a reason, she believed work should stay within work and that be the end of it, of course with her lack of a social life that left her with some rather unscratched urges, "Sir in my defence....." However she never got to finish, Graham held up one solitary hand to stop her rant, "Agent Walker he was the sixth partner you have burned in the last five years and you always have a defence for each one, but this time you actually injured a young high potential agent and almost compromised the mission beyond all recognition"

He took a calming breath before continuing, "I'm tired of hearing this and I didn't ask you here to punish you for it, I simply want to inform you that I have taken steps to rectify the situation" Before she could even ask what these steps were she highly alert senses picked up the sound of the door opening behind her, metal door shuffling against carpet although strangely no noise from a person, Walker assumed whoever had just entered was highly trained to avoid detection from here and definitely an agent; the only reason their position was given away was the specially designed door her right hand clutched tighter at the small knife hidden within her the sleeve of her business attire.

The tension she had built in her wrist lessened as she noticed the look of recognition cross Grahams face at the new mystery attendee before he schooled his features, not relaxing completely she stared hard into the golden name plate sat atop the Director's desk looking for the intruders image in the reflection, she couldn't make out any details but Walker could tell that he was male and although well built he was not overly muscular. In no time at all the anonymous agent had made it next to her again avoiding any noise whilst moving at a quick pace, he stood next to her for a moment before Graham made a motion for him to be seated.

It was then that the scent rolling off of his body hit her and she felt a delicious heat run through her body because of it, confusing as it was she made no attempt to explain it to herself and just assumed the thermostat was up one level two high. Graham began his brief and although she kept her attention firmly on him a small part of her mind was trying to get a better look at the new agent from her peripheral vision, her eyes quickly snapped back at the mention of his own run through multiple partners and she was already getting an idea of what Graham had planned, he was clearly going to ask them to partner up and although this new guy had obvious stealth skills she hoped he wasn't a rookie or an asshole Agent Walker had no time to babysit or deal with jerks for months at a time, her assignments provided more than enough of those types of men and she didn't need another one to tag along. Still if he had more than one partner then he couldn't be that new also he fascinated her that someone else had managed to go through as many partners as shed had.

However the situation turned out to be far worse than what she had originally estimated, she was going to be stuck with this person permanently her curiosity of this person was now far outweighed by annoyance towards him, long term partners had far too much opportunity to get to know her and learn information they had no business knowing, forget Agent Walker even plain Sarah couldn't have that. The amusement emanating from Graham was swiftly leading him and his nose to a left hook from Walker but before she even had the chance to voice her protests he finally voiced the mystery agent's name.

"Agent Charles Carmichael it is with great pleasure that I introduce to you your new and **permanent **partner Agent Sarah Walker, and vice versa to you Agent Walker."

Charles Carmichael..............

Carmichael.............

Carm...........

You have got to be shitting me! She mentally raged as her head turned towards her arch-rival, she was met with the most dazzling set of chocolate eyes she had ever seen and they seemed locked on her own ice blue, she could have sworn they were looking right through her, but before she had had time to register much else words that sounded suspiciously like real marriage reached her ears and she turned so fast she could have sworn she heard something in her neck 'Click'.

If not for agency training she may have gone into shock already even if her mask of emotionless control was already splitting at the seams and Sarah was starting to leak out, Walker squirmed in her chair waiting for the director to continue at this point she was fairly certain any attempt at communication on her part would fail a similar looked seemed to be taking hold of her new....partner. As she stared across at him she felt an odd pang in her chest the word marriage still ringing in her ears.

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So heres chapter two hope everyone who still had the stomach to sit through my ramblings enjoyed it, I intend to get another chapter out this weekend where there will be some interaction between Characters (Just had to get the introduction I guess you can call it outta the way) Feel free to review I was given helpful advice after the last chapter and I always enjoy the chance to improve, and just one liners are fine so dont worry about that. I shoudl also point out that I intend to attempt atleast to do multiple POV during each chapter let me know what you think because Im sure no one wants to read two chapters of the same scene from different view points all the time.


	3. Conflict

CHUCK VS THE NEW PARTNER

– Conflict –

**_So who's excited Chuck got picked up for a fourth season huh? huh? Hopefully there will be a good supply of fics around to keep going me after season three ends, we only have three more episodes left after all and I promise to do my part._**

**_So as I said I would, I managed to get the third chapter up this weekend although I had hoped to get it posted a little earlier than this. I tried to incorporate multiple pov's this chapter but im not sure how I did depending on feedback I may change things, but I would like to continue like this for any more chapters._**

**_Thanks again for everyone who read and reviewed the last two chapters and I only hope I have your continued support as I fumble my way through this in an attempt to keep it interesting. I'm sorry for those I haven't replied to yet but with the volume of reviews its difficult to keep track of who i've responded to and who I haven't, but I do read them all and appreciate the time you've taken to write them._**

**_Thank You! You guys are awesome!_**

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20:31 Langley, Virginia 2007 -Director Arthur Graham's office-

Graham finally kicking off his amusement and returning to comfortable professionalism he hoped the two super spies were paying attention so that he could get them out of his office and he could go home to his wife, "First off, Agent Carmichael, Agent Walker, I'm afraid I can't give you two much time to get used to each other and the way you operate, but your both professional so I'm sure you can work through it. You have tomorrow and after that I'm sending you on an easy international assignment in Italy, mission details are in a file that Denise will hand to you once you leave...consider it practice.

He leant down behind his desk and returned with a briefcase in hand, opening it up he quickly began to stuff various papers from his desk inside, "Any questions you both have my number, you'll be communicating with me directly from now on **no one** else but for tonight this meeting is over and I expect the both of you out of my office in the next thirty seconds." Graham was determined to get these agents out of his office before they could argue with their about their new partnership or hassle him on a mission that was defiantly far below their talents, but he knew from firsthand experience that even the best agents needed time to adjust to a new partner, they would both have to compromise on how they did things and for two people as stubborn as these two he knew it would take more time than just one mission.

* * *

Chuck knew when he was dismissed but all the same he wasn't sure if he could get his legs to work as he had trained them to, silent, strong, and without detection, right now he was likely to fall down on any attempt at motion and at the very best it would be a wobbly trip out of the office. The only time the Agency had forced him to take a partner was when he was fresh out of the 'Spy Factory' and after that was over in the first year he had never kept a partner for more than 6 months, they'd never called him on it before so either she or himself had done something monumental to screw things up or whatever Graham had planned for them was huge.

He knew there was little point in arguing with the director about this and once he was confident the feelings in his legs had returned Carmichael stood up and made his way to the door not even sparing a glance towards his new partner unable to look into those azure blue eyes again, afraid they would see too much of him. Although Carmichael was unable to look at the blonde goddess and all around nemesis enough of Chuck managed to slip through the mask that once he got the suspicious office door open he stood firmly at the doorway holding the door open for her, but working up the nerve to look back he found she was still sitting in the same chair he left her in. Unsure what to do Carmichael cleared his throat and spoke out thanking god for small mercies as his voice kept the normal business tone he used when dealing with work, "Agent Walker are you coming?"

* * *

She was still in the middle of forming an argument for her...their current assignment when the distant voice of Carmichael broke her out of her thoughts, looking around she realised he was across the room holding the door open for her. What the hell when did he get over to the door this; guy was starting to piss her off, as a matter of fact a lot of things about Carmichael pissed Walker off not only was he the biggest obstacle in her growing career but now he was going to be a burden to her on the actual missions and not just in the back of her mind, Sarah Walker never worked well with partners even when she wasn't snapping their wrists in two for trying to cop a feel and it didn't matter that Carmichael was the best male agent in the CIA he was still going to get in the way of how she did things and that did not sit well with Walker, control was key in any situation.

With that in mind Walker rose out of the chair deliberately taking her time by straightening out her suit before following him out to the door, "Agent Carmichael were going to be stuck together for a very long time Its probably best if you learn some patience" Smirking to herself she strode past him careful to stand as far from him in the door frame as possible as she strode through to the reception area barring any chance for him to make a comeback and placing the control firmly in her court.

Denise quickly stepped up to Sarah before she'd even taken more than a few steps out of the Director's office, "Agent Walker the files for your and agent Carmichael's mission have been sent with the other equipment you'll be needing by secure freight to your apartment tomorrow morning at 7:25am, everything you'll need will be inside the package" Fantastic like this day couldn't get any worse, after Graham told them that they would had tomorrow before being sent on assignment Sarah assumed she could spend the day reviewing the information and enjoying her last day of freedom but now Carmichael would have to be there so he could review the mission, ugh they were practically being forced to spend the day together.

A kind voice spoke from behind her back a direct contrast to his earlier business tone and jolting her from her quiet fuming....again, "Thank you Denise it's good to know you have everything in hand" The brunette smiled sweetly, "It's no problem Charles...."She gave a seductive gaze, "You have my number if you need **A**nything else" The woman exaggerated her anything and Sarah thought it was a very real possibility she was going to be sick, ugh is there no professionalism in the CIA anymore? This partnership was going to be hell on earth.

Sarah gave the woman a nod to let her understand and she continued down the hall to the elevator determined to get to her car, home and have a glass of wine before she killed someone, looking back behind her shoulder but keeping her eyes firmly rooted to the ceiling instead of at her partner, "Agent Carmichael, you can meet me at my apartment tomorrow morning don't be late I'd rather you didn't set a trend so soon in the partnership" Sarah knew she was being unnecessarily cold and that trying to make things more bearable between them would be the easiest thing to do if they were being forced to work together, but still she was angry about the way things turned out, he had been a pain in her ass for a long-time now even if he hadn't known it and god dammit he was the easiest target for her to take her frustration out on until she could find herself a terrorist or her trusty punching bag.

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Ignoring her comment as she strode past him and out of the office he followed her silently simply putting it down to the legends of Sarah Walker 'Ice Queen' he followed her wordlessly amused by her overly obvious tricks to frustrate him, luckily he managed to overhear Denise mention the package drop to be honest he wasn't sure Walker would've told him, "Thank you Denise it's good to know you have everything in hand" Chuck decided to thank her sincerely feeling just a little guilty about ignoring her before, of course he quickly wished he hadn't as the woman returned to her typical and frankly horrible flirting.

Walker had already began setting a brisk pace towards the elevator and he followed her matching her in strides but keeping slightly back hoping that the lead would thaw her out a little more, it was clear that she like most agents had a thing for control, "Agent Carmichael, you can meet me at my apartment tomorrow morning don't be late I'd rather you didn't set a trend so soon in the partnership" Fantastic it seems she has no intention to relax anytime soon, fine it just means I've got to work my way around her and hope she doesn't interfere with my operations too much.

"Excuse me agent Walker but could I have your address unless you intend for me to drive around the greater Virginia area looking for you?" Not that it mattered much he was a spy finding her couldn't be too difficult but the less effort he had to waste finding her the more energy he had to put up with Walker's personality when they were together, "Certainly but as a spy I assumed you'd already know, maybe the rumours about you were false" Walker just confirmed his suspicions that she had looked up information on him just as he had her during their joint time at the Spy Factory and in the agency, "Oh I do but I thought you'd appreciate it more if I asked ," He had no idea where she live operative barely spent more than three weeks a year off assignments it meant tracking any permanent residences difficult, not to mention all the safe houses they are bound to have set up, then again what she didn't need to know wouldn't kill her....unfortunately.

As they both climbed into the elevator she seemed to push excessively hard on the floor button with her right hand whilst wordlessly handing over a card with her left which he assumed had her address on it, she also seemed to be muttering curses under her breath some of them quite creative if he hearing correctly. In no time at all they reached the garage floor and headed over in the direction of their cars, after a few moments of tense silence she spun swiftly on her heel in a blur of blond hair only to level him with a cold stare, "I was under the impression we were finished tonight Agent Carmichael why exactly are you still following me?"

Her tone of voice equally matched the glare she was giving him and despite his agency training he couldn't quite tell if she had forced him to gulp out of nerves, "Agent Walker I'm parked just over there, I'm sure it's just a coincidence were heading in the same direction" he displayed one of his trademark grins in a hope of placating Walker's sudden and irrational anger. It seemed to hit its mark as Walker noticeably blushed and had the decency to look a little sheepish after the outburst, at the same time her eyes searched out for his car its direction he had signalled out with his own eyes and they narrowed in confusion slightly as it seemed she found his silver Aston Martin, "That's your car?" Now it was his turn to feel confused, was it so surprising? Many agents went for the typical James Bond type car in fact it could almost be considered a rule, unless they were one of those Army nuts who couldn't let go of their precious Crown Victoria's, he'd met a few of those since he started his career and it was no surprise those same men were well on their way to becoming burnouts.

As a matter of fact the only other car in the lot aside from his was the black Porsche Boxster, if that was Walker's then why did she have a problem with his car, "Yes it is, is there a problem with the car Agent Walker?" Finally looking back to him for the first time Chuck noticed how beautiful the woman was, even in the dim lights of the parking garage and the deathly glare which seemed to be a permanent feature of her face she shone with a radiance that didn't really seem to be fair for normal humans. Walker's voice betrayed no sign of her confusion and held a strong tone when she finally replied, "It was there when I pulled in, if you arrived first why I ask was I meeting Graham before you? Where were you Carmichael? Although her tone denied any signs of confusing it defiantly held more than a hint of accusation.

Chuck stared at her in disbelief having to restrain himself physically from bellowing out to her in anger by digging his nails into the palm of his left hand, anger had never been a problem for Chuck Bartowski and even less so after becoming Charles Carmichael and the training he received to restrain his emotions but he was truly insulted that after just meeting him Walker was accusing him of suspicious actions towards a company, and Country he had spent five years of his life fighting to protect. Carmichael came to the surface and his voice took the deadliest tone he usually reserved for intimidation or interrogation, "Agent Walker are you seriously accusing me only five minutes after being assigned as my partner of treason?" He looked her dead in the eye and Walker held her ground with an equally dangerous stare, Carmichael could see her slowly come around to reason as she mostly likely realised how ridiculous she truly sounded.

The muscles that had tightened in his rage loosened slightly as he began to make his way to the car hitting the lock on the keys once he was within range of the receiver, "Go home agent I'll be there 7:30 sharp with fresh coffee, and we'll pretend this didn't just happen" Without another word he swung his door shut and switched on the ignition calming slightly at the sound of a highly tuned engine and after fastening the seatbelt and briefly checking the mirrors he sped out of the lot in a fashion only suitable to a trained agent, leaving the rage inducing blonde where he had left her in the middle of the lot shock clear over her face. He'd imagined meeting Sarah Walker many times in the past but in all his speculating things had never quite turned out like that, things had certainly not gotten off to a good start.

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_Well that was chapter three 'Conflict' I'd love to know what you think now that the introduction period is over and we are now starting to move into character interaction. Chapter four will start at Sarah's point of view in the parking Garage and end at the start of the italian mission which in honour of im naming the next chapter '**The Italian Job' **Yes the movie I couldnt resist I'm only human._


	4. Morning Coffee

CHUCK VS THE NEW PARTNER

– Morning Coffee –

_Ok first off I want to apologize I said this Chapter would take us up to the Italy mission, unfortunatly even though I had planned to use tomorrow to work on & finish it my part time job has chosen tomorrow to pile a bunch of shifts on me. I was forced to cut this up and change the an excuse that for sure but not much I can do about it, I just wanted to make sure you guys had this chapter since I dont know when I'll get near my computer in the next day or so._

_On the plus side though this is the longest chapter so far and since I had planned for the rest of the chapter the real 'Italian Job' it should be posted soon when I get the chance to write it up, It will most likely be in two parts but thats not for certain yet._

_I want to take another chance to thank everyone who's continuing to read this fic & those who also take the time to review, your all great and I sincerely want to thank you._

_Oh and on a side note I just wanted to say that every location in this chapter is 100% real and accurate to location, no joke I reasearched I'm nothing if not thorough._

_ENJOY!_

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**20:40 Langley, Virginia 2007 -CIA Parking Garage-**

"I was under the impression we were finished tonight Agent Carmichael why exactly are you still following me?" She delivered her question in a harsh manner in the hopes of getting a swift and acceptable response; he'd been following her since they had left the office together and she was starting to get suspicious, not to mention the guy was so silent when moving around she had to keep checking the reflective surfaces to check if he was still following her.

The answer she got was not the one she expected even though she should have and realistically shouldn't have even needed to ask in the first place, "Agent Walker I'm parked just over there, I'm sure it's just a coincidence were heading in the same direction" All the heat in her body quickly travelled directly to her face, of course he was heading to his car she should have known that. What was it about this guy that unnerved her; well for starters that damn grin of his wasn't helping; only now looking directly at Carmichael for the first time did she understand what the other female trainees had meant when describing him, he was clearly handsome and yet he still held a charming innocence about him.

Sarah decided to search out his car with her eyes in an attempt to break the spell he had currently inflicted on her and to see if she would have a chance to bug with GPS before he left for the night, she almost froze when she spotted the silver Aston parked next to her own Porsche.

Walker's mind clicked into place and her eyes narrowed as if trying to see if the car itself was suspicious at all, it was definitely here before she arrived it stood out to her because she admired it on the way to the Director's office. If he was already here when she arrived then what was he doing between the time he arrived and when he turned up at the meeting? Did he know what they were discussing something important tonight and informed his contacts of the meeting? They may be on easy assignment now but the Director clearly has something in mind for them. Didn't Graham say they were only to report to him? Was Carmichael giving away secrets to another organisation? It didn't make sense but what else could explain where he'd been?

"That's your car?" his reply took a little too long and it only furthered her suspicions, his voice had a confused quality to it, "Yes it is, is there a problem with the car Agent Walker?" She looked back at him again her voice full of resolution to find answers, "It was there when I pulled in, if you arrived first why I ask was I meeting Graham before you? Where were you Carmichael?" She deployed her well practiced glare, the one warned a-lie-on-your-part-and-I-will-impale-you.

His eyes seemed to go dead at her accusation and his whole body seemed to visibly bristle in anger, his eyes seemed to dye black from their comforting brown and the voice he used was different, it was different from the kind tone he'd used to talk to Denise, it was different from the business tone he'd used to speak to her, it was low and menacing, " Agent Walker are you seriously accusing me only five minutes after being assigned as my partner of treason?" She felt as if she was staring down the barrel of a gun and it took all her training to prevent her legs from shaking.

His anger seemed to slowly bring her back to reasons and suddenly the answers that had seemed so oblivious to her moments before seemed like the most obvious. There could have been a million reasons he had been here early in fact Sarah did it all the time, she often arrive early to hand in files from a previous mission, request information whilst she was near headquarters instead of calling hoping the presence of the actual agent would speed up the process, or even just to berate an analyst for a few minutes after being given defective equipment whilst she was out in the field where it could have meant life or death.

During her inner monologue she was snapped out of her shame by a terse voice and the sound of an engine, "Go home agent, I'll be there7:30 sharp with fresh coffee, and we'll pretend that this didn't just happen" Well this could have gone better, she thought to herself as she finally willed her legs to take her to her own car.

* * *

Chuck sped through the diverse traffic down the 123 on the way to the hotel room he had booked for the next couple of days at the Ritz-Carlton, although it seemed he would only need it for one more. Chuck had specifically chose the hotel for its direct 20 minute route to Langley, a large shopping mall adjacent which was perfect for getting lost in the crowd, multiply exits, and well the great service.

This was the best hotel for an agent to choose if they had business at CIA HQ but even then he also had reservations at the Marriott and the Hilton just in case, too many agents lost their lives from piss poor planning.

Not five minutes out from the hotel the Bluetooth from Chuck's phone caused his car's dashboard light up and display the smiling face of his sister Ellie Bartowski, after hitting the secure code into the dash the doctor's voice lit up the car in the usual excitable atmosphere she managed to pump out 24/7, "Hello, little brother!" He let out a small chuckle at her exuberance and felt the stark contrast between her and his own fatigue, " Hi El, what's got you calling simple old me at this time of night?" Ellie had made it a policy and she had told him as much that she would call Chuck everyday whilst he was away from home, but obviously with his job it wasn't often possible for him to pick up and he would be out of contact for days at a time, it hurt them both that when he would never explain why.

Ellie knew Chuck worked for the government but she thought it was as some type of code monkey travelling across the states visiting different government facilities too busy to answer the phone, not hidden in the shadows waiting for the opportunity to assassinate an enemy operative and ignoring the vibrating phone to avoid giving away his position.

"I was just ringing to remind you about the party I'm hosting next week, y'know the one I told you about four weeks ago and three months before that." The underlying threat was clear, the last party she had organised was Morgan's birthday as a motive to get him back home for once, unfortunately he had been at a remote location in Borneo trying to avoid a search party and had been out of contact for a little over two weeks after already agreeing to be there....on time for once.

"El I know I said......." He was cut off by the cold voice of his sister flowing out of the car speakers, "Charles Irving Bartowski Don't-You-Dare-Finish-That-Sentence!" Ahh why did she always resort to the Irving, he had no idea what motivated his parents to give him Irving for a middle name, like Chuck wasn't cruel enough he could really do without the overkill.

"Is Morgan still mad about that, I said I was sorry I even had a bunch of games sent to him as an apology, and might I add a lot of those hadn't even been released yet, hell I haven't even had the chance to play them myself." Ahh the wonder of government contacts, "and sis I know you don't want to hear this but frankly I can't imagine I'll be able to make the party, I just got this new colleague at work and uh she's....well she's.....well a pain in the ass." He normally rued insulting someone he barley even knew, but frankly she was making things difficult and even though he wasn't happy with the assignment at least he was trying to make things easier between them, her side however was still a brick wall and he didn't even want to think about the accusations at the parking garage.

"She? Is she pretty?" Unbelievable she was trying to set him up with someone he had literally just said drove him nuts, "Don't go there Ellie" his warning went unanswered as she continued on , "Come on Chuck when was the last time you let a woman in? I know since Jill you've avoided relationships in general......." He was thanking God for small mercies when he pulled into the hotel parking, "Listen I'm sorry to cut you off sis but I just got to the hotel and right now I really need to unwind and get some rest, busy day tomorrow" Not waiting for a reply the last thing he heard before cutting the engine and the call was, ".......This can't carry on little brother!"

After exiting the car and taking the elevator past the lobby up to his room two floors below the top, he was now falling onto the couch glass of Johnny B in hand and staring out across the greater DC area. Searching through his jacket which he had slung onto the back of the chair Chuck pulled out the card Walker had given him to check where the hell he was going tomorrow, the contents of his drink nearly left his mouth upon inspecting the card, he could have sworn he heard Denise say, "Delivered to your **apartment**" How could he have missed it, throwing the card haphazardly onto the floor he made his way to the ridiculously large bed determined to get some rest.

Dreams of a beautiful blonde spy captured him in sleep that night, scenes of them making love under the moonlight played to him from his subconscious. But just as quickly as the dreams arrived the small paradise turned into a nightmare as she stabbed him in the heart with the knife she had hidden under the pillow, the murderous gleam in those damn blue eyes of hers hurt almost as much as the blade.

Sarah Walker at this time was currently getting out of the shower tired from the day's events and forgoing anything more than switching off the lights fell promptly onto the bed and fell asleep, dreaming of a curly haired spy who she could give her heart too and she could trust completely. They made love under the moonlight on a sandy beach, but as soon as they began to express their passion, love and lust he simply got up and left her without a word on the beach....alone. What before was a perfect paradise was now just a desolate island for her to be alone, just as she always was.

* * *

**7:35am Sarah's bedroom 2007**

A loud banging woke Sarah out of her restless state, tired, aroused, and pissed off. She had spent most of the night trying to rid the all too realistic and graphic dreams of Carmichael from her mind the only result being she had far too little sleep to deal with some asshole smashing on her door. And with that she was up from the bed clad only in the towel she had slept in, grabbing her glock from the nightstand and making her way over to the door as quickly and silently as possible.

Looking through the peephole she couldn't decide if she would have preferred some kind of assassination attempt, none other than the bane of her dreams stood on the other side of the wooden frame holding two cups of coffee and looking like mulling something over, probably trying to figure out the easiest way to get out of this assignment she knew she would.

Opening the door quickly she levelled him with a gaze, although she felt guilty for what she had said to him last night Sarah still needed to gain the control in the partnership, and right now she didn't have it, "Your late! Carmichael you should've been here five minutes ago" She nearly shouted taking a quick glance at the clock in the process to make sure she was right.

She was sufficiently surprised his eyes seemed routed to the floor and refusing to look at her, Sarah had just successfully scolded the great Agent Charles Carmichael without even her morning coffee, and not even needing her agent persona to do it.

The celebration was short lived, "Actually Walker I've been knocking on your door for at least five minutes so that makes me right on time at half past " His right leg moved out of view of the door frame and when it returned it was pushing a small briefcase in front of it, "And since I intercepted the information package before it made it to your hotel room I must have been here at 7:25 when it was due to arrive, wouldn't that make me five minutes early?" This guy was not only determined to piss her off but make her work for any control she could grasp, and unfortunately Carmichael wasn't done.

"And uh Walker as much as I appreciate your uhmm excitement to start working I would prefer if we did this with our clothes on"

Clothes on? Of course they were staying on, typical he was just like every male agent out there expecting to get into his partners pants.

He seemed to sense her confusion and pointed one coffee filled hand down at her body, Sarah followed his finger and was mortified to find she had forgotten she was only wearing a towel which was not only showing a generous portion of her body but was dangerously close to falling off completely, hightailing it to her bedroom she slammed the door and began to change into the first clothes she could get her hands on.

Needing to change the course of the morning which so far had been full of her unprofessionalism she began to strike conversation in the hopes of somehow erasing everything that happened, "So where are you based while you're at Langley? Did you have to travel far to get here Carmichael?" His response was quick and full of humour, whether about her state of undress of whatever he was thinking about she wasn't sure she hoped it was the latter, "Actually no I have the room down the hall from yours" Crap!

* * *

**7:00 Chucks Hotel room 2007**

Right now Chuck was tired, somewhat mad at the CIA who thought everything had to start ridiculously early in the morning, and he was also in desperate need of a cold shower to rid his mind of the images of Sarah Walker.

He couldn't believe his eyes last night when he found out Walker was just down the hall from his room, if he hadn't stormed out of HQ he probably would have drove behind her the whole way trying to figure out how much further she was going to go. Normally he was quite thorough with checking the occupants of his own floor when booking into a hotel room, but not being on mission relaxed him and even though it wasn't a fatal mistake this time it could be the next, Carmichael swore to himself to be more alert from now on.

Taking a quick shower he busied himself going through morning routines, successfully wasting around twenty minutes he pulled on a deep blue buttoned shirt with rolled up sleeves and some black slacks. Deciding to forgo his usual Walther P22 which was currently placed on the night stand, Chuck decided to grab a couple of trank darts and place them securely on the band attached to his upper arm. Inserting just a couple more on the inner side of his belt he quickly left his hotel room and made way for the lobby, careful to avoid having to walk past Walker's room just yet he took the stairs.

Chuck didn't spend long in the lobby, in fact after descending the stairs he walked directly past the front desk and walked to a small coffee place down the street just to waste a little time, he spent a few minutes talking with some friendly staff before walking lazily back to the hotel two coffees in hand.

His Carmichael vision as he liked to call it spotted the agent delivering the information package a mile away, the way he walked was careful and controlled and his head openly and obviously looked at everyone who even came close to him, he clearly wasn't a well-trained agent but he was an agent none the less"

Chuck intercepted the agent just as he was asking the reception desk for a Sarah Walker, "Uh excuse me. I couldn't help but overhear that you're looking for Sarah....Hi I'm her boyfriend Chuck, she's not awake yet but I'd be to take that off your hands and give it to her on my way up" The agent bristled so much at being addressed by a stranger that even the reception clerk noticed his nerves, he had hoped that using Chuck rather than Charles would give a less threatening atmosphere. The agent calmed himself a second or two later and nodded slightly, "That's fine, I'll just need your signature before I can pass it to you" Chuck couldn't believe that he wasn't even asking for identification or some kind of call sign, if this was how national intelligence was getting passed around these days he might as well give up the job now because they were royally screwed.

Signing the form quickly and placing the two coffees atop the box he left the agent and made his way to the elevator, he made a mental note to talk about sending that guy for a refresher course at the farm. Then again easy mission or not Graham had said the work they were going to be doing was important, maybe the agent was still in-training, it would certainly mean that he had no affiliations with any rouge factions. It was kind of out there but Graham was devious like that and even Chuck had trouble keeping up sometimes.

It was 7:30 when Chuck Stepped out of the elevator and Chuck made his way over to Walker's room, he placed the information package just to the side of the door and knocked gently on the wood. This continued for well over five minutes and he had to pick up the coffee from the box and hold them in his hands so that he was too busy to pick the lock.

During his internal debate the door swung open to a glorious half naked Sarah Walker, if last night's dreams were any indication then a restful night's sleep was not going to be an easy thing to come by whilst they were partners, and right now Walker was adding fuel to that fire, not even the death glare she was aiming in his direction could dissuade the passion burning through him at the sight of her.

He fixed his eyes firmly away from her body suddenly finding the ceiling fascinating, looking around the room would be too risky too much risk that he would catch a reflection of her in something; yep the ceiling was good it was safe.

Right now he was never so glad to have sorted out his blushing issues at the Spy Factory, he had always resented Roan for some of the embarrassing things he had occasionally made him do during training but on the plus side he no longer blushed like a school boy with a crush.

Despite the obvious distraction he could at least register what she was saying in some part of his brain, unfortunately the part that was listening seemed to be arrogant Chuck and being shouted at for being late when he was in fact early seemed to piss him off, "Actually Walker I've been knocking on your door for at least five minutes so that makes me right on time at half past" Although he had said last night's incident wouldn't be mentioned today he couldn't deny he was still a little peeved and decided to drive the point home before dropping the issue.

He used his leg to slide the box he had placed at the side of the doorway before the both of them, "And since I intercepted the information package before it made it to your hotel room I must have been here at 7:25 when it was due to arrive, wouldn't that make me five minutes early?" That seemed to do the trick, although he couldn't deny he was a little disappointed in himself for letting such a small incident rile him to the point he intentionally tried to make her uncomfortable.

Unfortunately now that he didn't have anymore desire to be mean to her Chuck found it very hard to keep his eyes away from her body, the towel was dangerously close to falling now and the last thing he wanted was another episode like with Carina Hansen. Unlike Walker Carina really had tried to seduce him, and in no way was Carina's towel falling an accident she had all but thrown it at him.

"And uh Walker as much as I appreciate your uhmm excitement to start working I would prefer if we did this with our clothes on"

He couldn't quite understand why she was giving him such a confused look, well unless she didn't.......Chuck pointed down to her nakedness with a coffee filled hand urging her to realise her mistake, Walker clearly had no idea what she was wearing right now.

It was almost cute.

He could have sworn he had never seen someone move so fast in his life, and when you spend a good portion of your time dodging bullets you see people run like the wind. Chuckling to himself slightly he placed the two coffees on the appropriately named coffee table in front of a couch similar to his own room's, in fact her room was a mirror image of his own. Chuck was busy checking the information package for any suspicious devices or any signs that it had been tampered with before they even attempted to open it; when the disembodied voice of Walker floated out of the bedroom, "So where are you based while you're at Langley? Did you have to travel far to get here Carmichael?"

A shit eating grin made its way to Chucks face, it had taken him most of the night to believe both of them had booked rooms on the same floor of the same hotel at the same time, but Walker wouldn't have the chance to prepare like he did, "Actually no I have the room down the hall from yours"

*Silence*

.....................Annnnnnnd there it was.

Something that seemed suspiciously close to a young woman screaming angrily into a pillow, which actually seemed to do nothing to block the sounds of her wailing. It wasn't very agent like, but he couldn't blame her so far every time they had met he'd managed to enrage her all within period of five minutes.

Chuck knew he had to play nice for the rest of day, right now she was most likely hitting her limits and he didn't think the locks of the hotel would let him feel safe enough from Walker that he wouldn't need to sleep with one eye open tonight.

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_So well done for putting up with more of my drabbles I only hope I didnt disappoint, I had all the research done and planned this one out but due to changes I had to rush when writing and i'm not so confident about the end result ( I may revist when I get the chance) I'd love to know what everyone thinks, all your opinions are important to me and I enjoy reading them._


	5. The Italian Job PART I

CHUCK VS THE NEW PARTNER

–The Italian Job–

– PT 1–

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**Ok well first I should obviously apolgize for my absence my computer decided it wanted to crap out on me, and sadly it was not a sexy ninja Sarah Walker breaking my computer but just one epic blue screen that has left my wallet significantly lighter. Its not really and excuse since I got the replacement about two weeks ago but since I lost the product key for word and had to move to open offce, I sort of lost motivation and left you hanging so yes im sorry totally my fault.**

**I swear nothings going right, I'm going to warn you ahead of time I am not happy with this chapter its below par, I rushed things characters are all over the place and talking nonsence and I didnt even spend much time editing it. After I lost my originial copy of this chapter since I was too stupid to back it up I re wrote it and to be frank the end product was nowhere near the standard I hoped so I cut this one a little early and decided to get it out of my way so that I could work with a bit more enthusiasm for the next chapter.**

**I plan the Italian Job to go on for about 4-5 parts, although when I say plan I mean im taking a total guess and for all I know I may rap it up in 2 but hey thats the fun part right!**

**Thank you all for the reviews during my absence I'm shocked how much motivation they give me to keep writing! With that I just want to declare that I will no longer going to be giving guesses for when the next chapter is going to be up since I suck at it. There wont be super long periods between chapters so stay calm and the only thing I CAN promise is that I WILL finish this fic If its the only thing I ever acomplish I will fiinish it so dont give up on me yet I wont abondon this.**

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**7:15 Sarah's Hotel Room, Ritz-Carlton 2007 **

The word Jackass continued to radiate from her entire person as she stared across at Carmichael, even without meaning too he was annoying her, how was it possible they both booked the same floor at the same hotel!.

Before she could begin to work out the odds in her head he began tearing open the information package they had been sent from Graham for their mission in Italy. He opened the box and pulled out several standard folders, most likely to be information on the targets, locations, and surrounding areas. Carmichael continued to pull files out for the next minute or so before he stopping with a look of confusion.

What he pulled out next confused her too, it was a small metallic box which looked to have two fingerprint scanner mounted on the front.

"I guess this thing needs both of us together to open it? I think?" It made sense since the case had two scanners, "Alright move over Carmichael"

Not waiting for an answer Sarah moved from her perch on the single beige armchair in the corner of the room, and manoeuvred herself so that she had maximum distance that was allowed on the two person love seat Carmichael was currently occupying.

Carmichael's large frame turned on the couch to face her and he let out a loud sigh.

"Alright listen I know we didn't get a great start but please I respond best to Chuck, or Charles but just stop with the Carmichael" Sarah swore she could see her own blue eyes reflected back from Carmichael's chocolate brown.

She really didn't know what to say to him; she knew that normally agents who were in long term partnerships didn't refer to each other with only last names. However normally partners didn't have sex dreams about each other in their sleep and yet want to impale them when awake.

Her mind had gone blank having no idea how to deal with his request, "Chuck?"

A small smirk formed on Carmichael's lips. Was he making fun of her? "What everyone has a first name, and don't you think that Charles is a little too regal sounding?"

Sarah had to admit Chuck did suite him better than Charles or Carmichael but still she hadn't exactly met many agents that wanted to be called Chuck. Even though she was still upset with him for managing to surprise her this morning Sarah decided to offer her own olive branch , it wasn't like it was her real name anyway, "Fine Car...Chuck you can call me Sarah"

Just as Chuck was about to turn his attention back to the small metallic box Sarah spoke back up demanding his attention in a last ditch attempt to put them back on even footing. Since they'd met too much had been going his way, "But just because I'm allowing you to call me by my first name doesn't mean we're friends or that you have any chance of getting into my pants! Understand?" She smiled as his eyes shot back to hers in utter shock, "What!"

Finally she managed to get a reaction out of him without needing to be half naked to do it, "You heard me! I don't care what you did with your other partners there is no way you're getting anywhere near me in that capacity, I know what you male agents are like"

Sarah had noticed after she had calmed down that whilst she was in the towel Chuck hadn't stared at her in fact he went out of his way to keep his eyes firmly on something else, it gave her the impression he was rather sensitive to matters concerning sex. A little odd in her opinion to find in an agent but so far he seemed to be overall odd so why not add one more reason.

"I had no intentions of trying to sleep with you!" Chuck was beet red with an expression crossed between anger and embarrassment, his eyes weren't looking at her but instead back up at the ceiling. Thanks to her training she picked up on his aversion to looking her in the eyes, he had thought of sleeping with her. Although she couldn't quite work out why her heart rate spread up at the realisation that he had thought of her in that way but she put quickly calmed down and got back on track with the mission preparation, after all Carmichael was an agent one of the best; there was no way he could have such an obvious tell.

"Good now let's get this box open already I want to read those reports" Sarah placed her thumb on the finger plate closest to her and it glowed a soft green, Chuck's thumb soon followed although not without a fair bit of griping on his part.

Cool air wisped out of the metal container as the lid opened and revealed two iphones one black one white, sitting atop the phones was a small business card with a message

"Only contact me (and ONLY me) through these phones -G"

Sarah stared at the phones for in confusion a moment, secure phones weren't very unique however ones that connected directly to the CIA Director were.

Chuck on the other hand had already grabbed the black phone and began excitedly flipping through the its functions like it was a toy, Sarah had been told about his affiliation to technology but she couldn't help but be surprised at the joy on his face. This could work in her favour however to gain some control back in their partnership, "Car...Chuck can we get to work and stop playing around!" her voice was severe probably too much so but despite her own reasons for doing things they really did need to review the files on their mission, easy or not Walker was a consummate professional even if she hadn't made much of an appearance since Chuck became her partner.

He looked reasonably abashed and she let the matter drop and they each grabbed a file each. After a few hours they still had only gotten through about half the files that had been sent to them from the director, it seems their mission was mainly intelligence gathering. They were to attend a meeting being held by a small time terrorist organisation in a villa in Italy, luckily this meeting was being covered by an invitation only party that they could use to sneak in under the guise of guests.

The mission was simple they were to retrieve Intel from the hosts desktop kept in his office and they were also to listen in on the meeting and gather any valuable intelligence as well as identify the members of said meeting. This type of mission was well below her skill sets and Chuck's for that matter, but orders were order.

It was now 21:00 and after taking full advantage of room service they had more or less memorised the files they had been sent for their newest mission. Sarah had just placed the last file into the CIA burner when Chuck's old phone began to ring inside his pocket.

"I'm sorry it'd be best if I take this, otherwise the thing won't stop ringing till I do" she stared at him as he got up off the couch and walked into her bedroom , "Hey El, how's my favourite doctor doing?" She managed to catch the end of the conversation before the door closed. Sarah wondered who it was on the other end of the phone, it clearly wasn't anything related to the agency so perhaps it was a girlfriend or something.

Sarah felt an odd tug in her chest at the realisation but before she had any chance to explore it Chuck walked back out of the bedroom with a blissful smile adorning his face, yep definitely a girlfriend, "Sorry that was my sister..." ok maybe not a girlfriend, "you know how it is with this life, I don't get to talk to her much so I appreciate the time I can accept her calls" Well that it explained his joy at talking to just a sibling, although she was confused as to why he was suddenly telling her this information.

"I wouldn't really know about that" she busied herself with disabling the burner when she felt Chuck shuffle behind her, "I think you'd like her Sarah...and I think she would like you too." Her head whipped around towards Chuck who stood there with a shy smile on his face and total honesty in his eyes, her slowly began to reflect his own smile at the kind gesture, it wasn't something Sarah was accustomed to without an ulterior motive and just the thought that someone could like her for who she was; frankly was a wonderful compliment, "um thank you"

Chuck rocked on his heels for a few minutes just staring at her before he began to clean up the mess they had made in the coffee table, "well uh I think we covered everything we needed to today I guess all that left is to get it done..." As he headed to the door Sarah wasn't sure but the look in his eyes made her panic slightly, whatever he was about to do she was sure she wasn't going to like it, "I'll knock on your door tomorrow morning so we can head over to the airport, after all if I leave you to your own devices who knows when you're actually gonna turn up and even then..."

Chuck pulled open the door quickly and stepped out into the hall pulling the door slightly closed behind him so that only his head was slightly looking into the room, "...who knows if you'll even be wearing clothes, can't have a repeat of this morning in a public airport Sarah so mind on the ball" he gave one last cheeky grin before his head disappeared from the door and he headed to his own room hoping the humour would help them get along better as partners, they'd done good these last couple of hours trapped in the hotel room together and although they hadn't talked much at least she hadn't tried to kill him.

Sarah stood there in shock for just a few moments before a knife promptly flew to the exact spot Chuck's head had been previously, just when she thought he could actually be a descent guy he goes and pisses her off like that! She knew for sure now that she hated Charles Carmichael and she always would and it would take a miracle for anything to change that.

She marched to her room pulled on her pyjamas and climbed into bed determined to be the one to wake him up in the morning. Although despite her declaration before going to sleep, her increased hate of Chuck still didn't stop the dreams that night from plaguing her mind and leaving her in desperate need of a shower.

* * *

**North Atlantic Flight 424 11:00am **

Chuck was making a mistake, he knew it but he couldn't really do anything about it in his current situation. Despite the early hour it was drilled into field agents that they had to grab sleep whenever the situation presented itself when they were immobile without anything productive to do, and considering the lack of sleep he was faced with lately and especially last night it was good advice to follow.

Except the cause of his current sleepless nights the blonde she-devil as he had taken to calling her, was right next to him currently using his shoulder as her pillow.

Rewinding back to the start of his morning Chuck was startled awake by a loud banging on his hotel door, infact it was so loud he assumed someone was trying to break the door down to get to him so he quickly grabbed his gun of the night stand and made his way over to the door. Careful to come at its side Chuck reached for the door handle and yanked it towards him his gun levelled on a mop of blond hair and he could only stare blankly at the amused expression she wore on her face.

His new partner stood in front of his door with an amused and triumphant look adorning her face and he let his gun arm drop down in defeat and frustration, "Agent Walk...Sarah to what do I the pleasure" She strode past him into the hotel room and swept it with her eyes before turning back on him, "Revenge mostly so I'm slightly disappointed your not naked..." she seemed to go a little red at that comment clearly only now just realising what she implied before straightening up and returning to her previous demeanour, "but we have a flight to catch and I wanted to make sure you didn't sleep in and make us miss it" the coy smile returned and he realised that she just threw his own words from last night back in his face. Although the early morning wake up call wasn't exactly appreciated he liked that fact that she could give as good as she got and made a mental note to watch his back.

A half hour later they were both stepping off the elevator and on their way out of the hotel with just a travel bag each, agents need to pack light after all. Unfortunately for Chuck when they passed the reception desk the same woman who had been there when he accepted the parcel from the CIA courier lifted her head and gave them both a wide smile, "I hope you enjoyed your stay Mr. Carmichael we hope to see you and your girlfriend again in the future"

He could still remember the stunned look on Sarah's face and the cold look she gave him when she figured out that the young receptionist was talking about them, didn't it hurt to make her eyes do that.

Expecting some huge fallout when they left the hotel she just gave him the cold shoulder all the way to the airport which lasted all through the long 2 hour waiting time and until they got on the plane and took flight, where Sarah promptly fell asleep.

Chuck wasn't sure if he was happy with the current situation or not, true he had avoided any shouting matches this morning which to be frank was a new record, so far the few times they had actually met each other Sarah and himself had either been shouting or accusing the other of something within the first five minutes.

However his new partner seemed to be using a tactic which his sister had perfected years ago into complying Chuck to apologize, Silence. Even after all the CIA's training he was still very much a talker and Silence was his kryptonite.

He was contemplating what to say to end the silence when she woke up but much to Chuck's dismay Sarah's head fell onto his shoulder and the rest of her body followed, with her arms reaching out and latching onto his own arm. She had reacted so quickly and out of character that he didn't have time to say or do anything to stop her and he knew he was going to pay for this if she woke up in her current state.

Despite the rumours of the cold and deadly Sarah Walker and her own frosty attitude towards him Chuck would never have expected that in sleep the blonde she-devil was a cuddler, which as cute and endearing as he found it was rather bothered that she was also like a monkey on crack when he tried to remove his arm, she would not let go!.

And it was now back to the present that Chuck was resigned to his fate that when they reached Italy and she woke up, he would likely have to attempt this mission with just one arm because as he saw it Sarah would cut the one she's holding off no matter what he said.

Chuck lifted the tiny in-flight Jack Daniels and toasted to himself, "Italy here we come, one blonde she-devil/spy and one severely handicapped nerd/spy!" He downed it and looked back down it his arm, "I hope your enjoying your nap Walker, because I'm sure not getting any sleep this flight"

* * *

**Yeh-yeh I know but I did warn you about this one, feel free to review I do enjoy reading them. As I post this I am working on Chapter 6/Part 2 and it will be up at some point and believe me when I tell you I pray that its going to be to a higher quality than this one was.**


	6. The Italian Job Part II

CHUCK VS THE NEW PARTNER

– The Italian Job –

– PT 2 –

**Wow crazy month which for the fun of it I will now summerise into a few quick words, my 19th at the begining of the month, which my friends thought clever to practice for about a week before hand (aka shots) a friends 21st on the 13th (aka more shots) and my brothers 18th on the 20th (aka stupid number of shots) and while I may not like him it gave me an excuse to have a party lol.**

**Which is coincidentally the reason why I may or may not have written some of this chapter whilst being just a litlle bit tipsy, so no idea how it reads but hey thats what makes it fun right?. Its not like I usually read through it anyway so details details. **

**Also I had an idea while I was nursing the hangover from hell, as a side project (New Partner will still be my number one priority)**

** who would be interested in a fic where Sarah was not recruited by Graham but was infact arrested with her father, so that when she actually met Chuck genuinely wanting her phone fixed, they start a relationship following the course and timeline of the show whilst Sarah tries to keep her criminal past a secret rather than being a spy. **

**Sarah having nothing more legally than a high school education explains why she would be working at the winerlicious or OO later. So it will be a fluffy piece with Sarah trying to open up and commit fully to a relationship with a guy she genuinely cares for without scaring him off with her past and helping Chuck reach his own potential. And I also figure i'll add Casey as a retired army major into the buymore, Carina as a con artist, and Bryce hmm not sure maybe cheating ex which they can bond over or something else not sure. **

**So let me know if your interested in reading something like that, although I'll probably do it anyway its like a said a side project so more than likely it will be something like only one chapter of that after every two chapters of CVSTNP. **

**And onto the news which I know you'll like. I'm going on vacation!, and how does that benefit you well let me explain, by vacation I mean a dinky caravan whilst spending some quality time visiting my grandparents (I do love them so I decided to visit) and they conveniently have a laptop with an internet connection, and since It will be more than likely I wont have much else to do other than write. So if all goes to plan expect another chapter real soon.**

**And when I say soon not soon like I said before, and it now being a whole month later, my bad by the way XD! I'm hopefully talking next week. Course dont get your hopes up just in case. **

**Now real quick because Im rambling thank you to everyone who is still reading and taking the time to review, It means a lot to know you guys are enjoying this.**

** Special thanks to lly18  for providing me with speedy and awesome Italian translations (because we all know what google trans would have created, and I like to avoid it whenever I can) And additionally to enz8 Who provided me with some interesting information on the Red Brigades. Check out the article on wiki I had never heard of them myself but I found I got sucked into reading the whole thing.**

**Oh and I would say that this is almost all in Sarah's pov because its like some tribute to Yvonne strahovski's birthday this week, but no really it just happened but eh what the hell.**

** If you need any help with imagery pics of rooms, objects, and important characters are all placed in my profile.**

* * *

**Airport**

This was new for her, Sarah was at peace she had honestly never felt this comfortable since she was a little girl. Even before she joined the agency being on the lam with her farther they constantly had to be looking over their shoulders for anyone out to get them, but right now she honestly felt secure and warm.

It didn't occur to her the source of this new found comfort was her new partner and she burrowed closer to the warmth, and even in her sleep state she could tell when it tried to get away and she just moved closer not allowing anything to separate her from IT.

She was starting to wake up and it suddenly occurred to Sarah that she had no idea what could and was making her feel this way. Hell during her time in the CIA she had slept in some of the most secure bases in the world and for some reason none of them made her feel as secure as whatever this thing was. Sarah pulled it tighter to her chest as she began to come around, hoping that it would still be there when she woke up.

As Sarah slowly willed her eyes to open her eyes to open, careful of any bright lights that may strike her eyes when she opened them. The blonde spy was more than a little mortified to come to the realisation that it was Chuck she was clinging so tightly to. His expression seemed to be one of fear and uncomfort, one she could defiantly relate too at the moment.

How the hell was she supposed to react to this, she had clung to her new partner in her sleep as if he was her teddy bear not 24 hours after she claimed to hate his guts. In doubt Sarah did what she always did, she went on the assault. Righting herself in the planes seat she levelled Chuck with a look she knew was capable of silencing most men, so that she could focus on what the hell she was going to say without looking like an idiot.

It seems though that Charles Carmichael was not an ordinary man, although she already knew that because he suddenly stated to ramble at her, "Listen before you get ready to break something, meaning me, I just want to clarify _you_ grabbed me and I swear I didn't try anything but get you off" the words came out of his mouth so fast she had trouble understanding them, although to her credit though she was half asleep.

Sarah had only been worried about explaining her sudden urge to coil around her partner, it didn't occur to her that Chuck thought she would be mad that he might have tried something with her as she slept. If Sarah didn't already know that in sleep she was purposely trying to grab onto the source of warmth, under normal circumstances she probably would have agreed with him and thought Chuck was trying to cop a feel. Rat-bastard Larkin certainly would have given the opportunity, not that he could grab onto much with a broken hand thanks to yours-truly.

Sarah's glare softened slightly as the word came flying out of his mouth in a desperate attempt to sooth the savage beast and save his arm., "Chuck its fine just...stop talking your giving me a headache" Chuck seemed to notably calm down from this and began to relax in his seat, looking farm more comfortable than he did before when she was clutching on to him. Although some small part of her mind wasn't happy that he didn't enjoy having her hanging of his arm. Did he not find her attractive?.

"How much longer till the flight lands, and what time will we land?" Sarah's rain was hazy after waking up and without coffee she just couldn't remember their flight details and she wanted to get updated on the situation as quick as possible. Chuck seemed to fall into his own agent mode as he recited the details back to her, "We have about an hour left on the plane before we land, we'll land about 11:00am and since the Italian authorities cant know that we are in the country were probably going to have to spend an hour or two getting out of the airport".

When the CIA felt fit to inform a foreign country that they were sending agents into their country it usually allowed them to skip customs altogether just by flashing their badges, but unfortunately being undercover meant that they had to keep a low profile and go through all the motions involved in civilian airlines. Before joining the CIA Sarah felt airports were excellent places for setting up a con or readying a mark, or in severe situations a back up escape point for her and her farther, although they usually kept to the road rather than the air.

Now however armed with the knowledge of what was out in the world Sarah and most agents alike hated spending more time than they needed to in an airport. After all there was far too much surveillance equipment that could compromise their identities, multiple escape routes which despite working in their favour also helped potential enemies. Worst of all was the crowds, with so many important and dangerous people moving through airports agents had to keep their senses fully alert in such a crowded area in the event of an attack or spotting a high value target. She had been trained to do it but that didn't mean it wasn't taxing to do after a long flight; and Sarah knew after spending more than a couple of hours on this flight and then an additional hour in the airport, all she would want to do was get to the CIA approved hotel room and sleep.

"OK and our cover's?" Sarah said. Chuck continued in his monotonous tone as if he was reading the information from a piece of paper, "Well the party taking place the day after we land, will be the best chance to get the information we need so we'll be going as a married couple, the Carmichael's.

Sarah's glare intensified if at all possible, "The Carmichael's?" Chuck broke out of his revere and turned his head toward Sarah in confusion, "Yea, What?"

"Why the Carmichael's?" She raised an eyebrow and dared him to argue as a look of understanding crossed his boyish features.

"Are you serious!"Chuck huffed turning his body in his seat to face her directly, Sarah however kept her glare firm and her brow arched just begging him to argue with her, "Fine y'know what we'll do it your way. The Walker's it is. However you get to doctor the fake invitations" Sarah let out a rather unladylike groan at the task but nodded her head in assurance regardless, knowing full well that the easiest way in for them would be to just go in through the front door.

The were breaking into an Italian lake house at 'Como Lake' and the plan was simply to walk in get the information they needed and walk back out through the front door. Of course regardless of their competency as spies, no plan really went the way they were supposed to and usually for one simply reason. The human element is unpredictable Right now a CIA team should be breaching the harbour at the bottom of the house and placing scuba gear at the harbour, leaving her and Chuck a back up escape route if they needed it. For whatever reason that team couldn't break into the house to get the information themselves confused Sarah, especially if they could get into the harbour without issue, but she didn't argue with her orders, Sarah Walker was a spy and she followed orders.

* * *

Currently both Agents were riding in the back of an Italian taxi on the way to their hotel, in record time considering how busy the airport they landed in. Chuck was currently on the phone to one of the back-up teams informing them to change their reservation from Carmichael to Walker, a call he only reluctantly made after losing a coin toss with Sarah whilst they were waiting on their luggage.

And in the meantime Sarah was busying herself with more Intel on the mission:

_Target: James Frasier/ Host _

_DOB: 26/07/19767_

_Son of American industrialist Greg Frasier & Italian Mother Gianna Frasier. _

_Member of government _

_Suspected terrorist activities with known terrorist group 'The Red Brigades'. _

_The RB, a group formed in 1970 was well established through a number of political assassinations during the 'Year of Lead' including the kidnapping and subsequent murder of Christian Democrat Prime Minister Aldo Moro. _

_The group was believed to have been broken up in the 1980's after Italian investigators used information from several captured leaders to further arrest the remaining members. _

_A new group under the same title (although no known affiliations to the original Red Brigades) has risen up in recent years with desires to further infiltrate the Italian government through the Target's own government connections. _

Fully immersed in the file in her lap Sarah didn't notice Chuck had gotten out of the taxi and already walked around to her side of the car to open her door for her.

Looking up she was caught by a dazzling smile backdropped by the setting sun over their own hotel's lake, "Uh Sarah you coming or are you going home with the taxi driver?" His smile didn't falter but in fact grew as Sarah sheepishly thanked the driver for the ride and allowed herself to be pulled out of the car by Chuck's proffered hand.

"Thanks Chuck" She quickly released his hand trying to forget the strange tingle that shot through her fingertips at his touch, Chuck seemed effected too as it took him a few seconds to grab their luggage from the taxi and pay him before they made their way inside the hotel.

The hotel they were staying at was a rather nice hotel also situated at Como Lake called the Grand Hotel Menaggio. It was over an hours drive away from the airport but it was the best location to their target who was hosting a party at his lake house.

Both spies walked into the reception area sticking close to each other without actually touching, both not ready for the feeling the physical contact between each other gave them but nether the less having to play the part of a married couple. An elderly male rose from a chair behind the reception desk and greeted them with a warm aged smile, " Benvenuto al Grand Hotel Menaggio. Come posso aiutarla?" Before Chuck could respond Sarah was already conversing in fluid Italian confirming their reservations for the Walkers.

The man handed Sarah the room key and she swiftly waved him goodbye whilst simultaneously grabbing chuck by the arm and pulling him along on the way to their room.

Chuck allowed himself to be pulled along in a state of awe at how beautiful her voice sounded in Italian. He was also in a fair bit of pain with the force Sarah was using to grip his arm, "Italian huh? Is there anything the great Sarah Walker cant do?" he gave her a cheeky smile hoping that he could somehow convince her to loosen her grip without attracting attention to themselves as they passed through the lobby.

"Oh please, every agent can speak a dozen languages, you cant say your impressed with a little bit of Italian" She tried to come of as condescending, although she couldn't help but smile slightly at the complement.

"Perhaps they can, but its not one of the languages I can speak" As the neared the oak door of their room Chuck had leaned forward slightly from his dragged position behind Sarah, so that he could look her in the face, "I would have thought that would be reason enough to be impressed with you" Chuck pulled back again behind her and missed the blush that spread furiously across her cheeks at his close proximity, "But then again that's just my opinion, and its not like there isn't plenty of other reasons for one to be impressed by Sarah Walker"

Normally Sarah would have assumed that he was attempting to show off by saying that just because she can do one thing he cant its impressive, arrogance like that wouldn't have been surprising from someone who had always been called the best in the agency. However for some reason she could tell he didn't mean it that way, just simply that she had a skill and it was impressive. It was nice getting recognition for something she worked hard at, her own father's heartfelt praises were certainly few and far in-between. As for everyone else in the agency it was simply expected. A field agent couldn't be effective in foreign countries without knowing at least two languages minimum.

Plunging the key for their room in the lock she pushed it open slowly letting her eyes scan the room as it came into view. The walls were covered in gold wallpaper with matching drapes, which covered an impressive balcony view of the lake outside the hotel. Sarah wasn't too impressed it wasn't bad and certainly wasn't the worst place she had been forced to sleep in then again it wasn't the best, but this hotel had the most ideal location to their target and they had to work with it no matter what the room was like.

As she continued to scan the room her eyes soon drifted to the bed and locked there, only now coming to the obvious conclusion that as a fake married couple they had to share a bed to avoid suspicion. Somewhere in her mind she knew this was how it would be, but her stomach filled with knots at the thought of sharing a bed with someone, who could go from sweet and charming to annoying in under five seconds flat, the same person who she had been dreaming about since they met.

Chuck was following closely behind Sarah doing much the same when entering the room, and almost like a double froze on the spot right next to her. She felt slightly better about things noticing Chuck's own hesitation, as it seemed he only now came to the same conclusion she had moments before.

He seemed to fidget on the spot for a while before dropping the bags at the foot of the bed and turning towards her, "um you can take the bed, and I'll crash on the floor" She let out a sigh wishing he wasn't forcing her to point out the obvious and slightly embarrassing situation.

"Chuck, use your head! Y'know we cant risk the cover like that, what if room service comes in the room and finds you on the floor?" From experience Sarah knew the hotel staff were probably under the assumption that they were newly-weds, which meant that half the hotel were probably expecting them to be going at it like rabbits.

"Oh come on Sarah, we can just put up the 'do not disturb sign' or something?" She honestly wanted to slap him, the man was supposed to be one of the world's best spies, someone who has had numerous female partners, and in an impressive five year career should have seduced some of the most beautiful women in the world. Yet here he was making a big fuss over just having to share a bed with her.

"You know damn well we cant take that kinda chance. For one we both know they ignore those things 50% of the time, and two I have a perfect mission record which I wont compromise because your being a baby!" Although she was annoyed with Chuck right now she couldn't help but appreciate the irony, she couldn't recall any time where she actually had to shout at a man to climb into her bed. In fact with all her previous partners a goodnight usually followed a promise that should they lean over one inch into her side of the bed then she would swiftly, try out her new knife that was tucked snugly under her pillow at all times.

Chuck blanched at the no nonsense tone of her voice and dutifully nodded his head in acceptance to her demands. Sarah momentarily forgot her own issues with sharing the bed and let a victorious grin spread over her face, "Good boy, your learning. Now is there anything we need to cover before tomorrow night"

Chuck bounced back quickly and reached under the bed where they had been told some of their mission gear was being placed in advance to their arrival. He tossed the cases on the bed but rifled through one of the smaller bags before pulling out two small boxes. Chuck pulled away from the bed and quickly covered the few steps between them before getting down on bended knee and holding the box before her.

Sarah in the meantime had no idea what the hell he was doing and was quite frankly...Afraid. _He's not going to actually propose is he...we only just met, I don't even like Chuck...Do I?...No of course I don't he's done nothing but piss me off since we met...What the hell is he doing? _

Chuck opened up the small box in his hands to reveal a simple silver wedding back with an elegant diamond in the middle, it was rather practical for a spy.

"We may have been able to get away with it so far, but Mr's Walker at the party and from now on we really are going to have to sell this married couple thing, so I only got one thing I need to ask you. Will you be my wife?"Chuck had spoken in such a serious manner that Sarah couldn't help but release the deep sigh that had built up, when she realised what he was really asking her.

Chuck caught onto the sigh and seemed to realised how his actions could have been interpreted, "Um Sarah, you didn't think I was actually proposing did you?" What he assumed was going to be a fun joke to ease the atmosphere between them was now turning into quite the awkward situation.

Sarah coughed a few times into her fist before daring to look him in the eye, "Of course not! You idiot! Get off the floor! If you had been serious I would have had a good excuse too kick your ass, that way I could knock some sense into your thick skull, for being so ridiculous"

Chuck laughed awkwardly, "Sorry guess the joke was pretty lame, but on a serious note I just wanted to make things more comfortable between us, I know we both want to work on our own but it looks like were going to be stuck together for a while, so as I see it its best to get along if we can help it"

Sarah could see the sense in his words, but there was just something about Charles Carmichael that she found both intriguing but also quite irritating. They could try to get along but she knew that it wouldn't take long before she found something else to shout at him for, and he in turn would also find something to embarrass her with, it was a good job they weren't dating. That would be a disaster and they would most likely kill each other in a week.

"Chuck its fine. Okay so we got the rings what else do we need to do before tomorrow night?" Sarah had moved her eyes away from his own and started to lightly inspect the mission gear they had been given.

"Not much we need to go out soon so that we can solidify the married cover around town, its important were seen and recognised so that we can avoid suspicion..."

"Because nothing screams spy than a tourist married couple"

Chuck let out a full throated laugh and she couldn't help but enjoy the joyous sound, "Exactly Walker, and after we've done the rounds around town we just need to come back here so you can forge those party invites, and then get some rest." Sarah had almost forgotten about the invites but taking a closer look at her luggage did indeed reveal all the equipment she would need to make a suitable duplicate, why one of the analysts couldn't do this she would never know. From the get go it seemed like Graham was purposely trying to make more work for the two of them.

"If I must, but if were going out lets go now I want an early night for tomorrow and those stupid invites are going to take me longer than I care to think about. Besides this way I can show you all the great sights around Lake Como Carmichael"

"I'll follow your lead Agent Walker" Sarah grabbed his hand and started to pull them out of the hotel room, much like she did on there way in. She convinced herself that it was to reinforce the cover but subconsciously she knew that part of her liked the tingles shooting up her arm because of the contact with Chuck. Not that she would ever admit it to herself.

"And don't you forget it Agent"

The two super spies continued to spend the rest of the day scoping out the sights and being overly flirtatious with each other while out in public. To any onlooker they appeared to be the epitome of a young couple in love, ready to start their lives together. However what they had really been doing was scouting the area and making back-up plans.

Despite this neither Chuck nor Sarah could honestly remember a time when they had so much fun with another person. When they weren't arguing about where to go for lunch, or who had the better escape plan, conversation flowed easy between the two and they honestly didn't feel that far from the loving couple they were pretending to be.

This scared and excited them both equally, there was the obvious physical attraction to each other but both had worked with attractive partners before, it was part of being spies. But physical beauty couldn't explain the electric feeling that passed between them when they shared an accidental touch, or how even when they were constantly trying to one up one another neither of them could help but enjoy their time together.

* * *

**I may come back to this at some point and rewrite some stuff to make it flow a little better, but for now i'm ok with things. Now your probably thinking that this was a odd place to end the chapter, and I agree but I really felt that some scenes next where they actually share a bed, and also the time before the party , really needed some space to itself even if its not going to be huge in terms of length. **

**I feel I should explain myself a bit in this chapter. I really wanted to convey that Chuck & Sarah have some whole love at first sight thing, that subconciously somewher inside they know they want to be together even if it makes no sense and they themselves cant explain it rationally. Neither of them think that they want this and both constantly try to resist by getting angry at even the smallest thing, where normally they would forgive someone. **

**So I want their relationship to progress naturally from an attempt at hatred to being able to put up with each other to friendship to something more. Now this isnt going to take freaking forever so dont worry its going to happen steadily and smoothly they already have a deep connection, they just have to get to know each other and work through there issues in there rational minds to admit it. Now I for one dont actually believe love at first sight is possible, but wouldnt it be nice if it did so that probably why Im writing it like this lol. **

**And as a side note, I dont have any current plans to but if anyone wants to see this chapter in Chuck's perspective, or their day trying to reinforce the cover then let me know and I will eventually get around to it. **


	7. The Italian Job Part III

CHUCK VS THE NEW PARTNER

– The Italian Job –

– PT 2 –

**Wow another Chapter in just over a week, been a while since I done that right. Who love you guys! **

**well enjoy I tried to make it a little different in this one, especially after reading some of the feedback. So with that said I hope you like it and let me know your thoughts in a review! **

**P.s I know its not huge but this one is the biggest chapter yet, and I think my personal favorite. Its a bit all over the place in some-places but I had a lot of fun writing it. **

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Sarah POV

Finally Sarah had completed her creation of the fake invitations and it only took about 2 hours which isn't too bad if she didn't say so herself. Surprisingly considering the high calibre of the party and the rich people in attendance the invitations were shockingly cheap so it didn't take her long to create the duplicates. But all the same she worked on them to the best of her ability so that they weren't going to get caught out on her part, no way was she going to give Carmichael the satisfaction of being the one to screw the pooch on this mission.

Tired and somewhat irritable she moved out of the side room she had taken up to do her work, and moved over to the main bedroom so that she could finally join Chuck bed,…._wait that didn't came out quite right_. All evening Chuck had been doing his own work, he'd been reviewing the intel...again. Even though they both knew everything involved with this mission inside and out. They were the best in their agency for a reason after all.

Trudging into the bedroom she fell down onto the bed with a huff and turned her head over to Chuck sitting on the small desk table in the corner of the room, he was holding up a file and staring at her with a smirk of amusement on his boyish face. The temptation was huge to just flip him the bird and turn over, falling asleep and let the consequences be damned. Unfortunately she didn't think her constant snapping attacks were seriously what they needed the night before their first mission together as partners.

So you had to work with what you had, Sarah tilted her head over and stared at him with a fake smile on her face, "I hope you don't think your going to get away with making me do those invitations by myself all evening?"

Chuck continued to smirk at her before folding the file back on the desk table and then brining his hands into his lap, "Hey come one it's not my fault. You made the deal to change the name to Walker, that wasn't my fault so you have to deal with the consequences.

Sarah grinned and stretched somewhat similarly to a cat on top of their bed to be, "That may be true, fair even. Sadly for you Chuck, you're working on the assumption that I play by the rules"

Chuck seemed to snap out of staring at Sarah's curving body when she spoke, and quickly averted his attention back to the desk to tidy up the mess he made in his impromptu study session, "Don't worry about me Sarah I'm well aware how foolish it is to trust another agent, even your partner." The look of sadness that passed through Chuck's eyes at that moment momentarily stunned her, before she could ask him about it Chuck started to speak again.

"Uhm well ok, I know it's not that late yet but we might as well hit the hay now, and make sure were well rested for tomorrow night's party." He shuffled everything away and moved toward the direction of the bathroom.

Sarah still a little confused over Chuck's little mood swing, agreed with his decision and quickly got ready for bed herself. Slipping on purple lingerie that hugged her curves and left little to the imagination she climbed back into the bed and maneuvered herself under the covers waiting for Chuck to come back out of the bathroom and join her in their bed. _Ok I really have stop with all the innuendo, were simply sleeping in the same bed and nothing else. Its not something I haven't done a hundred times before with other agents. _

It didn't take long for Chuck to come out of the bathroom in a dark grey shirt with black pyjama trousers. He stretched as he came out and Sarah couldn't help but notice that her eyes of their own volition were following the small dusting of hair that went from the bottom edge of his shirt down and disappearing into the waistband of his pants.

Chuck also seemed to stop when he caught sight of her but brushed it off before she could make anything of it by moving over to the empty side of the bed and started to pull the pillows off.

"What are you doing?" Sarah had an idea of what he was going to suggest, and knew she couldn't let it happen.

"What I'm just taking some pillows for the floor, there's still plenty left for the bed" He seemed confused at her question and continued with his ministrations making a makeshift bed on their hotel room floor. "I thought I told you earlier that we have to share the same bed, our cover is a married couple"

He dropped the pillow he was holding and looked her in the eye, in a similar fashion she thought he would a crazy person, "I thought you were joking about that, come on those no reason that we have to share a bed. No ones going to find out"

"Chuck I wasn't joking this morning and I'm not joking now, your going to be lying in this bed tonight, with me whether you like it or not. I'm not going to risk our cover or this mission, just because you have issues sharing a bed with me, how the hell have you dealt with things before now, surely your other partners haven't been so unprofessional that they let you break cover whenever you felt you didn't like something."

"Sarah I don't have any actual problems sharing a bed with you, but I'm trying to show you some respect. And before you say anything more, yes all my previous partners were rather adamant about me sharing a bed with them; although I wish I could say their reasons were also the cover." He mumbled the last part obviously not meaning for her to hear him, but she did and she couldn't say she was surprised. Still his volume started to pick up and he seemed to be getting a little riled up right now, as he leaned closer to the bed and placed his hands on the mattress.

"But then again they didn't have the gigantic stick up their ass that you seem to, where they get all prissy about every single minor rule the idiotic CIA has every created" Sarah couldn't believe he said all that, no one ever talked back to her. Aside from Graham everyone was too afraid of her skill and reputation to dare speak back to her or her ideas. Sarah Walker didn't like this; she didn't like it at all.

"Ok I was going to take things easy on you but you know what, I don't care anymore. Now your getting in this bed, with me, the easy way or the hard way! Its your move Chuckles." Sarah was now on her feet and at the other side of the bed in front of Chuck's face, her words dripping poison.

It was difficult to come of as cold blooded assassin in the skimpy number she was wearing, but Sarah liked to think she was pulling it off. And if the very brief panic that flashed through Chuck's eyes at her approach was any indication, then she was doing a mighty fine job at putting her foot down. _Ha this will show that ass who's the alpha dog in this partnership...for once. _

Chuck's took a step back and continued to look her hesitatingly in the eye, "What is the hard way?" Sarah's smirk grew and her facial muscles hurt from the devious joy she had no doubt was clear on her face, all because of a few thoughts about what she was about to do.

* * *

Chuck POV

"You Crazy Bitch!" Ellie would have killed him for using that kind of language on a woman but right now he couldn't help but feel justified.

Sarah had just turned off the bedside lamp and pulled the covers up past her shoulders and under her chin, "Well that's not a nice thing to say to your partner" Chuck was feeling exasperated; he had never met anyone like Sarah walker.

"Are you kidding me you've fucking handcuffed me to the bed" He rattled the cuffs against the bed frame to demonstrate his point. Right now he really couldn't decided if she was just ultra passionate about her work and took things a little far, or if she was just simply a loon with a license to kill, "How is this any better than me sleeping on the floor, no ones going to believe were married if they think my own _wife _is holding me against my will!"

Sarah scoffed and made herself comfier under the comforter, "Please I know what I'm doing, if anyone does come in then there simply going to think were a couple who's into the….Y'know kinkier stuff. No big deal"

"Even if they do believe something that insane, what if whoever comes in her, IF someone even comes in here is an enemy agent? How do you expect me to defend myself, I'm somewhat exposed. And in case you were wondering I'm not just talking about not being armed, I'm also referring to the small fact that for some reason you decided to leave me in nothing but a pair of boxers!"

"It had to be believable, if we had just had intense sex then there's no way you would be wearing so many layers to bed. I'm just being professional" She shrugged under her cocoon of blankets as if it were no big deal. Chuck had expected something like this when he had temporarily been working with Carina Hansen, but he was ready for it and had been able to get away from her clutches, unlike certain other gruff agents she had worked with in the past. However he hadn't expected this from someone like the Sarah Walker.

"Yea the world's oldest profession!" Ok even he had to admit that was a low blow, he knew damn well that female CIA agents had to put up with a lot of shit from some of the other agencies, due of the amount of seduction missions their asked to perform. Even if it never goes further than it bit of flirting it doesn't stop the rumours, and Chuck knew it was a sensitive subject for a lot of agents.

She flipped over in on her side of the bed to face him, levelling Chuck with one of those glares he had come to expect from the ice queen, "Oh that's real nice, what the hell is wrong with you tonight?" He could detect some hurt in her voice but it had a genuine coating of anger.

"You-tied-me-to-the-freaking-bed!" Chuck ground the words out through gritted teeth, he wasn't one to get angry but Sarah seemed to bring out the worst in him. They had both made it clear neither wanted each other as a partner, but Chuck had assumed that they could still be civil when together. After all if Graham has his way then they were pretty much stuck together for the long hall anyway.

"Yes we've already covered the topic of me tying you to the bed; I'm bored of that discussion. So here's a new one I'm going to fall asleep and you can keep your bitching to a low volume setting ok" Chuck knew there was no point in arguing with her any further she clearly wasn't going to budge on the matter, and they did have a mission tomorrow. So he simply nodded his head, albeit reluctantly and let his eyes drift shut, deciding to stall the arguing and wait for the right opportunity,"Good to see your learning" He was sure he could physically feel the grin that was spreading across that deceivingly angelic face of hers, as she confidently believed she got her way.

It wasn't long before he heard Sarah shift next to him, as she tried to get back to her previous position facing away from him on her side of the bed. There was no way in hell he was going to stay like this all night, and if he was a hundred percent honest he didn't want Sarah to win. She didn't take long to fall asleep, agents had been trained to fall asleep in all conditions and to practically force their bodies to shut off, to maximise rest.

It was around three in the morning when Chuck finally managed to break out of the handcuffs she placed on his wrists and feet. He could practically hear his farm trainers inside his head, he could have been out hours ago if he had just broken the bones in this thumbs. He was never fond of that particular method, and he also wanted to wait till Sarah was a little deeper asleep before he made his escape.

As he started to gather his things together from the floor, where the blonde she devil had thrown them when she stripped him. Chuck was pleased to find he had a flash of inspiration as his eyes raked over the sleeping form of one Sarah Walker. _Let the prank war commence. _

Chuck knew he couldn't physically touch his partner; she was trained to react to outside stimuli. If he made any contact whilst she was unprepared there would no doubt be shiny knife imbedded in his skull for his trouble. He made a quick side trip to the hallway outside their room, and when he returned Chuck was carrying a generous amount of ice in a bucket.

Chuck had always been good with his hands, and 15 minutes later he had rigged a simple pulley system on the headboard above Sarah. The rope that held the ice above Sarah was tied around the alarm clock in such a way that when it went off, the vibrations would cause the thin rope to snap, and the ice would tip out of the bucket onto the unsuspecting agent._ Well it should anyway, haven't exactly tested this before._

Was it cruel? Perhaps, but since he didn't actually want to go hand to hand against Sarah, maybe this would teach her not to tie someone to a bed frame without expecting consequences.

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Sarah POV

Sarah had never been so embarrassed, or ready to kill someone in her whole life. The wonderful morning surprise her partner had set up for her had not only scared her, but the subsequent screams had alerted the hotel staff to their room, and she had to spend 10 minutes explaining how she hadn't heard any screams because she had been in the shower. _Very agent-like Walker screaming because of a little ice, I'm sure Carmichael got a good laugh out of that one. _

Similar thoughts continued to circle her mind as she kept on her morning run, making up the route as she went along. Sarah turned into a grassy trail and enjoyed how the rough terrain added an extra burn to her leg muscles, the pain helped keep her mind of how she could cover killing Chuck and hiding the body.

She wasn't on the trail long before she spotted a figure setting a good pace up ahead of her on the trail. She admired his form for the first few minutes, appreciating the scenery he was providing for her. His tall muscled frame covered in a light sheen of sweat as he continued to push one leg in front of the other, his back moving up and down in a steady rhythm as he took deep breaths. Sarah let her eyes roam unabashed knowing no one could see her open staring at the runner ahead of her.

She was enjoying her run immensely when she saw it, the runner had turned slightly as the trail started to dip to the left and it granted her a slight view of his face. Sarah could recognise that face anywhere, it had been haunting her dreams for days, the signature curls on top of his head should have been enough to get her suspicious, but she had been somewhat busy checking out other parts of his anatomy.

This could be a good thing, Sarah had finally got the bastard that had ruined her morning in her sights, and she defiantly intended to make him pay. However as she got closer she also realised that perhaps it wasn't a good thing that she had run into Chuck, Sarah had no idea if she would be able to control her rage and let the guy live. _Nope he's gonna die, the asshole threw ICE on me while I slept, and Sarah Walker gives as good as she gets _

If he had noticed her swift approach he showed no open signs of acknowledging it, she knew she had to get payback. If he had problems with it she could just reason out that he was getting careless by letting someone get so close without noticing there presence. With her scheme in mind Sarah pounced.

Chuck POV 

It was 6:30 am and Chuck had been on his morning run for at least an hour, when out of nowhere he was attacked.

He'd turned onto a trail not long ago, but soon it felt like someone was behind him, which isn't uncommon for walkers and other runners to enjoy the scenery and exercise. Forgetting those behind him Chuck continued his run for about another 15 minutes before he noticed that whoever had been behind him had started to slowly close in on him.

Chuck's training and instincts told him that it could be an assassination whilst he was away from public eye, and his partner. Chuck readied himself for potential attack, although he hoped it was just another runner speeding up their pace and getting ready to overtake him on the narrow trail. He was quickly approaching a bend ahead of them and he chose that moment to tilt his head slightly playing it off as encompassing for the turn, but really he was using his peripheral vision to look at whoever was behind him. He didn't want to fight if he would help it, and maybe if he saw the mystery person/potential agent, it could help convince himself that he's not going to be attacked...This time.

He couldn't see much but he knew that she was female whoever it was, she was blonde, alone, and not likely to be armed considering the tight running shorts and sports bra. Still people had tried to kill him with less so he readied himself for any attacks from behind.

He didn't need to wait long as within moments instead of overtaking him, his assailant had jumped onto his back and closed her arms around his windpipe. Luckily he had been prepared for some method of attack and was able to break her hold relatively easy, unfortunately as he broke the hold and attempted to push away from her grip she managed to shove her knee into his side.

Chuck quickly crumbled to the ground but not before swinging his own leg out, bringing them down to the floor with him. She attempted to put him in a leg bar, so Chuck pulled away before springing on her as best he could in his downed position.

It wasn't long until they were both grappling on the floor, rolling across the trail sneaking the occasional gut punch, whilst seeking purchase on the other. They both were looking for anything they could to grab their opponent and gain the upper hand.

The fight, if you can call it that was messy and without grace. For Chuck and his unknown assailant the training went out the window, and they were rolling around on the floor like animals, doing anything they could to dominate the other.

Chuck caught a wisp of blonde hair as it whipped him in the face and separated the two of them as he pulled back quickly. He was out of breath, sore, and he had no idea who he was even fighting or why, well that was until he saw the matching set of blue eyes giving him a hostile stare from her side of the trail.

"What the hell was that, Sarah!" He already knew, but in his defence he really doesn't like to be bound. His sister had always tied him up when they were younger so that she could practice being a doctor on him, to say it left him somewhat traumatised would be an understatement. Besides all agents hated to be bound so he was hardly unique, she knew exactly how he felt when she chained him to that bed.

"You threw ice on me while I was sleeping; I thought I was being attacked!" She attempted to shout, but the words were just breathless whispers between them. They had been running for over an hour before the fight, and both had taken plenty of gut shots which were bound to leave some nasty bruising for the next couple of days.

"Yea like handcuffing me to the bed was so much better!" He tried to sound angry, and he was, but for some reason after their tumble in the dirt and his own brand of payback earlier, his heart really wasn't in it to hate Sarah for what she did.

They both stared at each other in silence in the field neither willing to back down, until Chuck broke out into hysterics falling onto his back in the grass. He could see from his position in the grass that Sarah was confused with his antics and didn't quite know what to do in the situation, "What's up with you? Why are you laughing? Stop it! It's weird!" Her confusion only caused him to laughter, forcing Chuck to grip onto his sides in an attempt to stop the bruises from aching as his body shook with laughter.

It took a couple of minutes but eventually Chuck was able to calm down enough to get out a few words, even if they were a little hard to decipher due to the breathlessness of his voice, "Oh come…On….Sarah…Look at…..Us" Sarah pushed pressed her foot into his side and pushed him along side the grass so that he was sitting upright, giving her room to sit down next to him with an exaggerated sigh.

"All I see is you laughing like an idiot in the grass, and me desperately hoping no one spots me sitting next to such an idiot" Chuck was rubbing the side which she kicked but also noticed the smile tugging up at the corners of her lips.

"Where supposed to be the best spies in the business, were supposed to be partners, and yet here we are rolling around in the grass wrestling like children! You have to admit it's a little strange" He moved his finger between both of them trying to display the mess they had made out of each other, They both had dirt, dust, grass, and everything else covering their arms and legs. One of his shirt sleeves was ripped clean off and her hair had fallen out of its carefully placed ponytail.

"I won't lie to you and say I've gotten along with all of my partners, in fact many of them found me quite strange. But never do I remember one of my partners trying to kill me." Sarah let out a rather surprising giggle and he found himself under the spell of the sweet sound.

"I'm not surprised they found you odd, I'd have to agree with them. Anyway I wasn't trying to kill you I was just mad, I wanted to take out my frustration. You really embarrassed me this morning I had to convince the staff that the screaming hadn't come from our room" For a moment he thought she looked a little hesitant about talking so much, but he was glad she was trying to act a little civil now.

Fighting off another fit of laughter he continued, "I'm sorry about that I know it was a little cruel. Were all taught to expect a surprise attack on a mission, so being shocked like that this morning must have been a little rough." Chuck could see another smile pulling at her lips, and he wondered how long this temporary peace would last between them.

"Yea I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have bound you like that, I guess I kind of pulled a Carina there" Sarah stood up and started to brush as much of the dirt off of her body as she could with her hands, which seemed to be a difficult feat since her hands were already caked in the stuff.

"Carina? Do you mean Carina the carnivore?" Sarah let out another giggle and her lips curled up into its full smile, "Y'know she actually likes that nickname, she feels like it's a reward for her 'hard work' " Sarah was making air quotes with her hands and it was Chuck's turn to laugh, since the action looked so strange for the serious Sarah Walker to be using.

"I thought you two might know each other, although it seems she might have influenced you a little bit too much" Sarah swatted him playfully on the chest and started a light jog back down the trail, in the direction of their hotel.

Chuck set a pace behind her keeping just slightly back, "She had mentioned you two had worked together last year, I cant tell if she actually likes you or hates you since you the only person who has ever turned her down. I have to thank you for that by the way; she has been holding her perfect seduction record above my head for far too long.

Chuck shivered at the memories of that assignment with Carina, she was an exceptional agent but between turning down her rather aggressive advances and keeping up with her sudden inspirations, working with Carina was nothing short of exhausting.

"Good things I hope" Sarah increased her pace and so did Chuck so he could keep up with her, "And no thanks necessary, she's not really my type. Carina can be intimidating to say the least" He didn't feel the need to mention that his type had slowly been changing from brunettes to blondes lately, he didn't know why himself.

Sarah released a grunt similar to a certain NSA agent he had been asked to work with a couple of times, and continued picking up her pace towards the hotel. Within ten minutes they were both full out running towards the hotel.

What had been a one hour run from the hotel to the trail turned into only a half and hour on their return trip, both of them inspiring each other to compete and move faster.

They hadn't openly said it but Chuck knew they had been racing, Sarah had beaten him back by a couple of yards but she had been a gracious winner and had simply continued walking back up to her room. Not that she could gloat much being that they didn't actual declare any sort of race.

After getting back to the hotel and settling in after their run and subsequent scuffle on the running trail, both of them spent an afternoon of comfortable companionship in the hotel room, going about their own thing. They didn't speak much but when they did it was pleasant enough, Chuck had no hopes that they could sort out all of their problems in one afternoon. But he felt as if they had crossed an important mile stone today, and it proved that things could improve between them given enough time.

* * *

Time seemed to slip away from them in their solitary hotel room, and soon enough they had to be at the party hosted by their target within an hour. Chuck began loading his equipment in preparation as Sarah got ready in the bathroom. Easy mission or not Chuck ran through his usual pre mission check list. What made a spy great wasn't skill but the fact that they never underestimate the enemy, no matter who they are:

_Tux-Check_

_Gun-Check_

_Fake invites-Check _

_Lock picks-Check _

_Knives-Check _

_CIA provided memory stick-Check _

_Gorgeous Partner...Check _

Sarah emerged out of the bathroom in a stunning red dress that hugged her hips, with the straps going past her shoulders and meeting at the back. Her hair was in a messy bun with controlled strands coming down the front of her face.

The breath left his lungs for a moment, and he wondered if Sarah had caused some internal damage earlier in the day during their confrontation. She looked at him expectantly waiting for him to speak.

"So how do I look" The smile hung on her face, and Chuck knew at that point that he needed to get away from her, even if only for a moment so that he could psych himself up if he was going to be spending time with her this evening playing the happy newlywed couple.

He realised he had been quiet for half a second too long and quickly spoke to cover his mistake, "Good! Yea Yea real good, reds not really my colour so…." He started to walk away before he realized that he'd forgotten his suit his jacket, but just being back in such close proximity to her he started talking again, "Or salmon or whatever that is…."

Right now Chuck couldn't get out of the room fast enough, he had started rambling and he'd said way too much. _Not my colour ,really Bartowski? We just started getting along, couldn't you have said something a little bit better than __good__ she's clearly stunning. _

In his manic escape Chuck hadn't managed to catch the look of disappointment that had flickered across Sarah's face but just as quickly as it arrived she suppressed her emotions and got back in mission mode, as best she could.

Once outside Chuck and Sarah had climbed into their car being provided by the CIA, and signalled for the driver to take off. The comfortable silence from earlier was missing in the car and left an awkward feeling between the two of them.

They pulled up to the lake house they would be infiltrating for the night and both agents scanned the area from the inside of their car. Chuck was the first to speak ready to play the part of Charles Walker for the night, "So darling, Lets do this thing"

"Sure honey" Sarah's voice was terse and Chuck could only hope she was just psyching up for the mission, and that he hadn't insulted her earlier in their hotel room. He had been around many female agents in his time with the CIA and each one was just as beautiful as the last, yet when around them he had always been able to play the part of Charles Carmichael perfectly.

He was always polite and complimentary but stayed professional above all else. Sarah changed this, with every action of hers he felt like he was the bumbling nerd he had been years ago, the one that didn't know how to speak around pretty girls.

Chuck wasn't sure he was ready to be that person again, to feel his emotions so fully; if he did he wasn't sure he would be able to look himself in the mirror after what he's been ordered to do in the name of his country. Sealing his emotions back down inside himself and clearing his head of non-mission related thoughts he stepped out of the car ready to begin their first mission as partners.

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**So...Thoughts? good, bad, Perhaps what you'd like to see in their first mission. I'll take them under advisement since I don't know how I'm going to end the mission myself, I cant decide if I want them to succeed or two screw it up with their arguing. I hope you enjoyed the chapter I really did have a lot of fun writing this one.**


	8. The Italian Job PART IV

CHUCK VS THE NEW PARTNER

–The Italian Job–

–PT 4–

**Now remember if you kill me I cant write another chapter...soooo put down the sniper rifles fellow nerds or at the very least not the face. I did sacrifice watching anymore Chuck episodes (currently watched 1-2 but bought the entire series on itunes yay, no more crappy internet vids) till I got this chapter out and reading anymore fics (well maybe I got a little weak when it came to Chuck vs Highschool but um hey im only human) so don't say I don't care about you lol. **

**Bet I managed to scare a few of you this time I was done, didn't I, didn't I go on you can admit it. But don't worry I was just incredibly busy with some added shifts (FYI I'm a computer nerd, really not built for heavy lifting) I have every intention of finishing this fic. **

**Some of you might pick up on certain how should I say f*uck ups on my part so I'm gonna point them out now so you can ignore them or at least be better prepared to make fun of me with. Right since my schedule forced me to write this chapter in different bits a pieces over the course of a couple months and I made a mistake in my writing. if you remember correctly I said that Chuck and Sarah would have to break in, listen and record the meeting, and steal info from the host's computer. So because I forgot simply forget the computer bit, it doesn't exist, never happened...no computer got it XD**

**Nothing else as far as I know so just that one correction. On a better note I hope you can forgive me for taking as long as I did to get this chapter out, so as payment this chapter bigger than ever, over 6000 words wohay. Not saying its any good just saying its big lol, let me know if you think the chapters are getting a little too large. **

**Seriously am I the only one who cant believe were already 5 eps into the new season, how many eps are there total for this season I don't remember. And how come only KateMcK has brought up the sexting, I was laughing my ass off at Sarah on the plane, I figured writers would have been all over that. Oh well doesn't matter since I haven't had the chance to read it yet, that's exactly what I'm gonna do as well as other fics I've missed so Ciao. **

* * *

Sarah POV 

To say Sarah was somewhat pissed would be an understatement. She had spent hours getting ready for tonight's mission, although Hell would freeze over before she admitted the reason was that she had wanted to impress Chuck.

But that all the bastard could say was she looked _good, _Yea good doesn't cut it here. Sarah really couldn't understand, in every rumour about the infamous Charles Carmichael the word charming usually came up in the conversation somewhere, but if good was all he could come up with then she really didn't get it.

When he had left...no fled the hotel room Sarah had been able to bury her emotions just like she had been taught to do, unfortunately that had only lasted until they climbed into the car together. Being in close proximity to Chuck like that did things to her, although she couldn't explain it her emotions wanted out and she could feel the anger swell in her gut and beg for an outlet.

Sarah being the consummate agent that she was pushed past that and had managed to give him a reply when he asked her if she was ready. Praying the tone in her voice didn't give away the inner rage she was feeling when she added the endearment onto the end, she had a few choice words she wanted to use and 'darling was not one of them'.

Chuck stepped out of the car first and ran around to her side to open her door for her, Sarah didn't want to admit to him or herself that she found the simple gesture charming despite her earlier claims and settled for giving him a brief nod before stepping away from the car to look over the lake house with a critical eye.

Everything seemed to match the Intel the CIA had provided them. The security detail appeared to be light around the front of the house, nothing but a couple of guards to monitor the coming and going of the guests, additional guards further out into the courtyard, and some high grade camera equipment monitoring the front of the house.

The route they had planned through the house led them straight past the surveillance room at the back of the house, they would have to disable and steal all records of them every being at the party or if they were desperate destroy everything before they started listening in on the meeting.

Chuck waved the drive off and turned towards her holding out his arm in invitation a killer smile framing his face, "Shall we?" Sarah rolled her eyes at his antics and considering no one at the moment could over hear them talking, "Stupido" she chastised whilst simultaneously wrapping her arm with his.

"Ok I'm well aware my knowledge of the Italian language ranges to no more than its food, but even I understood that. What's got you mad at me...this time?" Sarah found that kind of funny and it only made her want to give him a swift right hook even more as they, confidently strolled up to the guard checking the guest's invitations, "I'm not mad, I just think we should be professional right now and you joking around just doesn't fall into that category."

"When was I being unpr..." Chuck stopped abruptly mid sentence and as they got to the main entrance for the lake house. A guard about a head taller than Chuck and who Sarah personally thought resembled a gorilla had stepped in front of them holding his hand palm up, wordlessly expecting them to know what it was he wanted. It only took her half a second to realise he wanted their invitations, so Sarah dug into her clutch bag carefully avoiding her back up gun and quickly pulled out their fake invites.

Even though she knew her crafted invitations were as close to perfect as possible confidence was always the key to successfully getting anywhere. She plastered on her hypnotic smile to follow suite with Chuck's, which hadn't fallen even when they were arguing.

The guard stared at the invitations held firmly in his ape-like hands and looking between the two of them for just over a minute before marking the passes with a UV sharpie pen and waving them through, mumbling something Sarah could only guess as something along the lines of 'have a nice evening'.

They walked through the open doors arm in arm, checking the corridor as they walked through and into the main room where the party was being held. Just as the two expected the security was tighter on the inside, guards standing in most of the rooms corners each with sights on the exits and entrances. To the rest of the party goers they may have just seemed rather stoic, but the trained agents knew they were carrying concealed weapons.

In theory the fact that the guards were armed wasn't going to be a factor so long as they were able to stay undetected whilst they completed their mission, however Sarah took the precaution just as she was trained to count the number of guards and pick up any weaknesses that she could exploit if things came down to a fight.

About five minutes in and after they had already circled the room once, under the cover of mulling with the crowd Sarah had spotted ten guards in the room, five outside at the front of the house, and from their Intel reports at least another ten more spread out throughout the grounds and the house. The only relevant information she had been able to gleam from watching the guards was that they were all pretty burly and weren't likely to put up much of a chase if she and Chuck could create some distance in an escape.

The guards inside carried nothing bigger than side arms, the guards at the door weren't carrying weapons all though Sarah couldn't confirm if they weren't armed at all, and the guards on the far side of the house's perimeter carried an array of semi and fully automatic weapons between them. Worse case scenario was whatever goons were down at the docks were also carrying similar weaponry since they were out of site from the guests.

As Chuck had lead her around the room making sure to be noticed by the guests but not memorable, they had ended up at the food table picking at the finger food and trying to act flirtatiously with each other. Chuck's head was leaning in close, his hand on her waist which carried the feeling of burning a hand shaped print through her thin dress and his free hand holding a strawberry up to her mouth, gliding it along her lips.

"Everything seems to be as the Intel suggested, small catering staff, roughly 25 guards, most armed in some way. There doesn't seem to be any camera equipment in the house, although I suggest we check when we steal or destroy it." Sarah said through bites of fruit, to others it was supposed to give the appearance of sensual promises to a lover, not mission critical information, "anything you'd like to add Carmichael?"

Chuck seemed to frown slightly at her use of his last name but he seemed to quickly remembered where he was and let the sly grin slide back onto his face, "Yea the CIA failed to mention that this Frasier guy hires Gorillas for staff, did you see that guy at the door? I wasn't sure if he wanted an invite or a banana"

Chuck pulled a couple of champagne flutes of the passing waiter, handing one to herself and quickly taking a drink of his own before laying I down on the table next to them, "In fact all of his men are of the steroid-induced King Kong variety, I'm starting to think he buys in bulk from the zoo."

Sarah couldn't help but laugh Chuck's thoughts seemed to be mirroring her own on the hosts staff, and she could feel her anger slowly dissipate as Chuck's smile grew over getting her to really laugh.

"Ah glad to see I get a real smile this evening, I was worried you were going to force me to pull out some of my party tricks" Sarah raised an eyebrow somewhat curious as to what Charles Carmichael would consider a party trick, considering he had devised a pulley system in the middle of the night just to throw ice on her, "I don't think I want to know, besides we have a problem we need to tackle"

Sarah looked over the crowd to two particularly large guards standing between the crowd of people and some rather ominous looking oak double doors, which just so happened to be the exact and only route through the house to get to the meeting room and surveillance room.

"Yep and this would probably be a bad time to point out that I've already noticed a couple of guys go through those doors, two or three at a time. I figure we got about 20 minutes tops before that meeting starts." Sarah started running through strategies through her head, she obviously couldn't take the guards out in the middle of all these people.

She had thought of flirting her way through for all of five seconds before coming to the conclusion that she would have to entice both guards, and with their married couple cover and the flirting they had been showing off since getting in, any attempts to seduce her way past those door were likely going to be met with suspicion.

She was about to ask Chuck if he had any ideas about getting through the doors when they were interrupted by the crowd parting behind Chuck, Sarah looked over his shoulder to get a better view. A small man, smaller than Sarah around 40 and with a quickly receding hairline waltzed up to them with a presence that she assumed was meant to let them know that he owned the room. The man flashed an overly large smile which was clearly fake and clapped his hands together.

"Ah I finally get to meet the Mr & Mrs Walker, the two late additions to my little get together. It's a pleasure to meet such a young and vibrant couple, I'm James Frasier tonight's host." He shook Chucks hand quickly and firmly before staring into Sarah's eyes and kissing her hand, before he continued.

"I must say I was surprised when I was informed that two Americans whom I had never met before had shown up with invitations tonight, two invitations that I was not aware had been issued." Sarah had been worried about this part, faking an invitation was easy explaining where they got them from was trickier.

Luckily Chuck chose that moment to chime in, "It's a pleasure to meet you too I'm Charles and this is my lovely wife Sarah. Its funny you should mention those invitations, when we arrived in Italy and heard that you were hosting a party we knew that we had to get our hands on some." Sarah nodded her head enthusiastically, Chuck was playing to the man's ego and they both knew that the happier he was the lower his guard would be.

"The wife and I spent a little sum to procure those invitations from some friends we have in the country, we are big supporters of some of your recent work in government Mr. Frasier and the chance for the privilege to meet you was to much to pass up."

The diminutive man smiled pleased at the obvious compliment although he seemed to still be eager to continue to sniff for information. Not that Sarah could blame him, if their Intel was correct the man was planning terrorist activities just a few rooms away sometime tonight and new and mysterious arrivals was bound to make anyone jumpy.

"That's fantastic to hear and it pleases me to no end that someone would be willing to go through such efforts just to meet me. Still I have to ask why would a young couple from America have any interest in Italian politics?"

Sarah was used to having to lead the conversation during these types of missions, normally whoever she was partnered with just wasn't as quick on their feet as she was and would normally end up exposing too much information trying to fill in the conversation.

So it surprised her when Chuck was the one to speak first.

"Well I'm semi retired and we have a lovely little villa over here that we enjoy visiting quite often, so it always pays to keep an eye on the affairs here, if only to keep an eye on our little investment"

Sarah was surprised at Chucks comeback it came out steady and confident; said in a time that suggested he barely needed to think of the answer, let alone that he was making the whole thing up.

She assumed that would be the end of his questioning but it would seem Mr. Frasier was more informed than they thought, "I'm afraid I'm confused, the conversation from my guests tonight is that the new couple that has been seen around town, is staying at the hotel along the lake. If you own a villa, why would you be staying at a hotel?"

Sarah knew now that even if they could get in and out without being discovered tonight, that they were definitely going to have to use one of the back up hotels they had booked,or leave the country altogether, in case he assumed something and came to find them after the party.

"Renovation" She thought fast and hopefully covering enough information to divert his suspicions, "Its actually why were in Italy right now, the villa is being renovated and my darling husband wanted to make sure that everything was done correctly, right honey?"

Luckily he kept the ball rolling and answered without skipping a beat, "Well you know I always believe that if you want things done right do it yourself" He leaned in and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, to which she gave the typical flirty giggle and wrapped her arm around his back pushing her body into his side.

Frasier seemingly satisfied that he believed the two were nothing but a young couple in love and quickly excused himself claiming the need to meet and greet, and leaving the couple in their moment.

It seemed Chuck and her had been on the same page, they both knew they were running out of time and that playing their relationship would hopefully make Frasier uncomfortable enough that he would cut his interrogation off early and leave them to their impromptu planning session over champagne and food, not that he knew that was what they were doing.

Sarah cursed under her breath as she noticed that Frasier didn't return to the party but instead moved towards the double doors and quickly walked through after briefly conversing with the guards, who frankly seemed to be even more alert now that he was done talking to them. They were running out of time, now that he had joined the members behind those doors they were no doubt soon to start.

Her critical eye scanned the room for something she could use, it wasn't long before she spotted the stairs and she recalled that in all that Intel she had forced herself to read, it mentioned that above the surveillance room and meeting room were the bedrooms.

She already knew they didn't have the time to try and get through those doors, but perhaps if they could get upstairs then maybe they had a chance to work their way down, or at least listen in on the meeting.

"Stairs!" She and her new partner said in unison, both looking at each other in surprise before a pleased smile broke out on both faces.

However it seemed that their new plan had already hit its fist snag, the host's visit to the young couple had seemed to attract the attention of some of the guests, who now seemed to be whispering conspiratorially between each other. Sarah noticed at least seven people watching them in what they seemed to think was a discreet manor.

It seems right now they were way too big of an attraction to slip out of the room unnoticed, and they really didn't have time for them to find something more interesting to squawk over.

The live band in the room suddenly started to pick up their game into a tango, and couples throughout the room had started to spill out onto the dance floor. Within seconds after the music started Sarah felt a strong hand tug on her wrist pulling her in the direction of the room's centre.

Chuck had his back turned to the crowd but was still managing to slide in-between the guests without bumping into them, all the while pulling Sarah along with him, "I've got an idea, roll with it!"

Did he want to dance right now? They didn't have time for this, she had to find a way to get them up those stairs before the meeting started.

When Chuck had gotten them into the centre of the room and pulled Sarah tight against him, Sarah tried to ignore the way their bodies seemed to fit together perfectly and tried to dance in time with everyone else so that they wouldn't draw any more attention to themselves. It seemed Chuck didn't like this idea as he forcibly sped up their pace and began to perform the steps to the lambada.

"What the hell are you doing, are you trying to get us made, we need to go unnoticed right now and get to that meeting" Sarah hissed furiously in his ear, "This is only going to attract more attention"

And as she predicted the people who weren't dancing had already turned their eyes toward them in the centre, and the other couples had already began to pick off to watch, "Sometimes the best way to go unnoticed is to stand out"

"That doesn't even make any sen..." The rest of her sentence was cut off as he rather impressively spun her across the room and brought his chest to her back to stop her movements before continuing with the dance. Sarah didn't speak after that; infact she decided to give as good as she got and soon they were gliding across the dance floor effortlessly, even their dance instructors at the farm would have been impressed at their performance in what was just their first dance, but to her felt easy and simple something they had been doing for years.

They continued on for another ten minutes and most thoughts about running out of time had slipped from Sarah's mind, it didn't take long before she noticed that the crowd around them had began to spread onto the dance floor in an attempt to imitate their steps and passion.

She could now understand what Chuck had meant, they had more or less melted in with the other guests as each were to busy trying to dance than focus on them, she looked up at him for a moment and was surprised to see a pleased smile rather than a cocky-I-told you so smile she had come to expect from other agents.

Now all they had to do is pull away from the pack of people and get themselves up those stairs, Chuck had already been systematically been moving them away from the centre and towards the edge of the dance floor and in the direction of the stairs, but now it was up to Sarah to perform the grand finale to their little performance.

She was sure that any prying eyes on still left would soon turn away after this latest stunt, although should would be lying if Sarah said she hadn't been wanting to do this just a little since she had first met him.

Once the pair had made it over to the edge of the dance floor Sarah put her plan into action, she placed a hand against Chuck's chest causing him to look down at her whilst at the same time using that same hand to push them off the dance floor completely and towards the stairs. Using her other hand she pulled Chucks head further down to her lips and began to lay a passionate kiss on him that was bound to make anyone uncomfortable to be watching the moment.

Sarah had been forced to kiss a partner before, the young lusting couple was always good for getting in places, distractions, and for escapes. But never had she felt the sensations that was flooding her body right now. A flush was creeping up her cheeks as his tongue grazed against her bottom lip, her pulse was going a mile a minute, and the traitorous tingles travelling down her spine were foreign but pleasant.

Chuck's lips felt soft against hers and she could only pray he couldn't hear her hearts frantic pounding behind her chest. She soon felt Chuck's back make contact with a wall but she didn't particularly care at the moment, it just let her press her body more fully against his.

Right now all thoughts of time running short were flying out the window as Chuck began to push his body back against hers, letting her feel his masculine figure underneath. Just as she was about to open her mouth fully and invite his tongue, she realised that Chuck was pushing himself closer to her but was trying to push her off.

Her flushed cheeks quickly turned into an embarrassed blush and she pulled away from Chuck, lips and body. "I think were safe to take the stairs" Chuck said in a croaky voice, whilst she wasn't pleased with being interrupted at least Sarah could take comfort in the fact that she had obviously had some kind of effect on Chuck. She nodded her head in understanding hoping he wouldn't ask for an explanation for her actions, thinking back she couldn't even explain them herself and she was absolutely mortified that she had almost slipped her partner the tongue.

They slipped up the stairs away from the other guests and began taking two at a time when they were confident they couldn't be seen any more. At the moment they could claim they were looking for somewhere private to continue with their little make out session, but once they got towards the bedrooms they couldn't risk being escorted out the building without getting what they came for.

That was why when a member of the guard staff stepped out of one of the rooms at the end of the hallway, the hallway they had found themselves in after they came to the top of the stairs. Both spies fell into a full out run as he began to close the door behind himself with his back turned to them.

Just as they got into hearing range Chuck pulled ahead of Sarah, her heels slowing her down and she observed him first wrap his hand around the man's mouth stopping any noise before pulling a small trank dart from the inner side of his belt and plunging it into the his neck, within seconds the guard was out. Sarah was quick behind Chuck and helped support the large man from falling onto the floor and alerting anyone else who might have been around.

"Why didn't you just kill him" Chuck stopped looking down at the man he was slowly lowering to the floor instead to stare at her with an odd expression for a moment before he answered with conviction in his voice, "Because I didn't have to".

Sarah was surprised she knew way to many male agents, females too who killed a target simply because it was easier and just more secure for the mission. Thinking back on past missions Sarah was sure even she could have been accused of doing the same a time or two, she wasn't sure how she felt knowing that despite the training telling him the opposite Charles Carmichael tried not to kill his targets when he could avoid it.

"Alright good, but we need somewhere to stash the body" Chuck looked down at the man and then turned his head to the very door he had just walked out of, Sarah was already two steps ahead of him and cracking the door open to see if anyone was still left in the room.

It seemed their luck wasn't holding out this mission as there was a guard positioned at an open window across the very room Sarah was staring into, a window was open and smoke was clouding around his head from the cigarette that was in his hands.

This mission was getting more complicated as time went by, ideally there was to be no casualties and no signs they had been anything other than party guests. So far they had already disabled one guard and Sarah was about to take down another.

She signalled to Chuck to wait before stalking into the room like a ghost, she moved fast and silent so that she was soon positioned behind the man's back. Sarah could smell the night air coming in from the window along with smoke from the guard's cigarette mixing with his cologne, deciding quickly on her plan she stepped into action.

Standing up to full height from the crouch she had settled into Sarah lifted her right foot and brought it crashing down into the back of his knee between the femur and fibula, forcing the man to fall to his knees. Before he could even begin his cry of pain Sarah's left hand came swinging from the side against his windpipe effectively silencing him, which was soon followed by her right elbow crashing into the guard's head knocking him unconscious.

The whole thing had taken her less than 10 seconds from entering the room to disabling the guard, looking out the window Sarah was pleased too see no one had seemed to be attracted to the window by the sudden jerky movements.

Chuck had already began dragging the large guard in from the hallway to join his friend in the room. She could also see that whilst he was waiting outside Chuck had tied the man in zip ties.

Sarah's guy was going to be out for a good two hours minimum, they wouldn't have to worry about any interference from him during the rest of the mission, but if Chuck had been using twilight tranks like she thought then his guy would be up and around in the next five minutes wondering why he had been lying on the floor unconscious.

Sarah grabbed a cloth off of one of the tables in the small room and handed it wordlessly to Chuck, who smiled in thanks as he wrapped it around the sleeping guard's mouth to prevent him from shouting out when he woke up.

"Heh clearly nothing wants to go right tonight." Chuck said in a hushed voice which Sarah wasn't sure she was supposed to hear or no, but she answered anyway as they moved back over to the door so they could step out into the hallway, "At least its keeping things interesting" Chuck seemed to like her answer as his smile turned into a grin.

Seconds later he was tapping her on the shoulder and pointing at a large window on the left side of the hallway, they shuffled over to it and Sarah watched as Chuck began to fiddle with its latch trying to get the ageing window open, "I was thinking while you were taking down Donkey Kong in that room, that this window really is going to be our only chance at listening in to that meeting"

Sarah thought about it and there were only two more rooms left in this hallway and right now they were directly between the surveillance room and the meeting room below them, which was convenient and dangerous.

Seeing no stairs that they could use to get back down a floor on this end of the hallway, the only set being the ones they had taken to get up on their current floor. Sarah had to agree that scaling the house and attempting to listen in on the meeting from the outside was the only choice.

"I don't see any other way, but were going to have to make this fast, if any of the guard patrols come this way its not going to be hard to spot a woman in red scaling the building" In they planning stages they had intended to take both rooms separately and together, but being short on time as they were Sarah knew one of them was going to have to record the meeting and the other was going to have to snag any surveillance that may have caught them on camera.

"Maybe they'll think your spider woman" Chuck said with a grunt as he forcefully pulled the window open with force. Sarah punched him in the arm as she pushed him out the way to look down at the building below them, "Geek" She lifted her smooth and toned leg up to the window and began to remove her heels.

"Nerd thank you, I prefer nerd" She looked at him in disbelief confused as to why anyone would want to be called a nerd but she just shrugged and finished taking of her heels. She wiggled her toes a little once free of their confines and stepped one leg over the side of the ledge so that she was sitting on the ledge half in the house have hanging out of it.

"Ok hand me the bug, we were going to use it on a door or a wall if we couldn't get it in the room before the meeting started originally so it shouldn't be a problem sticking it to the window. You take surveillance, delete any recordings and make sure its disabled for the rest of the party" Chuck reached into his tux pocket and pulled out what seemed to be a small black box, but was in fact a GSM listening device.

"Shouldn't I listen in on the meeting, you said it yourself you kinda stand out on climbing the walls and at least I'm wearing black." Sarah looked down for the best place to climb, it was covered in thick ivy so it should make for a simple and thankfully quick climb.

"Chuck the building is light up thanks to the floodlights on the ground, no matter what we wear if anyone comes their gonna spot us" She began to pull her other leg over and out the window before beginning to scale the wall, "And if that's the case it might as well be me, besides I hate to admit it but since your the nerd your probably better at computers than I am and its best if you handle the surveillance." She smirked at the word nerd before continuing her descent.

She headed diagonally to the left and when Chuck followed out the window he was heading to the right. The reason they hadn't simply ignored the party and infiltrated the grounds and listened from the outside in the first place, was the constant guard rotations and the floodlights. Right now they were both exposed to anyone with eyes.

"_I shouldn't have let myself get into this situation" _Sarah thought bitterly seeing as how this mission was supposed to be an easy one. It didn't take her long to be handing on the ivy next to the meeting room's window, without even looking in she could already tell the room was mostly full. Turning her head back slightly she could see that Chuck had already managed to get himself into the surveillance room, seeing as he wasn't dangling from the house like she was.

Turning back to the task at hand Sarah placed the small device on the window at its very bottom corner and turned on the speaker hidden in her earring.

…...Static...

...Now that t...

….orted we can finally...

...kr...Over the last couple of months I have been using my government connections to smuggle supplies and weapons to our various outposts spread around Italy's industrial areas."

_Finally a clean signal, _Sarah though as she continued to look around for any signs of a patrol whilst the bug did its work. "With this my friends our dream and the dream of the original Red Brigades of creating a revolutionary state through armed struggle, is one step closer" Sarah was stuck clinging to the side of the house for over ten minutes listening to the group converse about different safe houses, supply drops, and new members within the government who had been converted to become new members.

Frasier had called five of the eight members of the room by name, that would make it easy for another CIA team to pick up the members and crack them to reveal the identity of the others.

_If they don't wrap this meeting up soon I'm going to have to leave before they finish, I cant risk being caught here, _Sarah was getting worried now. The plan had diverted so far from the original and she had spent way too long in the open, any minute now a guard patrol was bound to come upon her.

_"_Well I think that covers everything we needed to tonight, over the next couple of days I will be sending you each a packet of information about your next tasks, your to memorize it and then destroy it. Understand?" There was little noise coming from the mic so Sarah assumed they were nodding in agreement. It didn't take long for the sound of shuffling chairs made its way into the receiver and Sarah took that as her cue to leave.

Pocketing the bug inside her dress, underneath her bra she began to make her way up the house and back towards the window she had descended from. Just as she was about to pull herself back through the window, a hand shot out from the darkness of the house and grabbed onto her wrist pulling her up. Sarah normally would have assumed she had been caught but the shot of heat flowing down her arm told her that it was Chuck pulling her back inside.

He pulled her back in into the hallway and handed Sarah her shoe's and began to seal the window back up while she strapped her heels on, "Did you stop for coffee? what took you so long?" Chuck said in a strained groan as he tried to pull the large windows shut again.

"Hey that Frasier guy is pretty long winded, besides what are you complaining about I was the one who had to be the spider on the wall for their little meeting." Sarah shot back defensively

"You did volunteer" Chuck countered as he latched the window shut.

"Details Details...Get what you need?" Sarah had no doubts he would be able to get a hold of the surveillance footage, but knew she would feel better with a confirmation.

"I''ll show you mine if you show me yours" Chuck said with his happy go lucky smile.

"Sorry Carmichael but unless you plan to strip search me, your going to have to take my word for it that I did my job" Sarah followed with her own flirty smile, she looked down to her dress with a pointed look knowing he would get the idea. Its not like she had pockets.

"Uh...*cough* Right yea don't worry I believe you...and don't worry I got the surveillance"Sarah again noticed the difference between Chuck and most other male agents. Most would have mistaken the flirty comment as something more, but Chuck was clearly taken aback by it.

It was likely that once he got his bearings around her, he could take those kind of comments in stride ad maybe give as good as he got. Still Sarah would enjoy this side of Chuck while she could, a lot of male agents and their ego's didn't take kindly to being teased.

After Chuck had pulled the window shut and her heels fixed firmly on her feet, they ghosted across the hallway in the direction of the party, they strolled down the stairs and glided back into the dance floor as if they had been their all along.

It would seem the dancers had given up their attempts of mimicking the spy duo's Brazilian dance during their absence, and the music had tapered down to a softer style with the guests flowing through the room following the steps to their waltz. No words were spoken between them as they got close and began to fall in step with the other dancers.

They stayed for another thirty minutes, dancing and mingling, as they did both spies had noticed members of the meeting leave one at a time from behind the twin oak doors, in five minute intervals of each other.

Sarah and Chuck didn't want to stay longer than they had to and run the risk of anyone coming across the unconscious guards upstairs. Waiting until James Frasier was the only one yet have come back out into the party the Walkers decided to retire for the night and call their driver. Once the car pulled up and both spies were safely back inside Sarah informed him to take them to one of the other hotels they booked in the area , whilst Chuck called the cleaner team to empty the hotel room at the Menaggio and to retrieve any equipment at the dock when they could, it wasn't needed.

Despite set backs Sarah knew they had pulled off the mission just as they had been ordered, Graham would soon be sending them on tougher missions and even though Chuck could irritate her like nobody before him, Sarah felt needed to re-evaluate her opinion on working with Charles Carmichael.

And to sort her head out over what the hell happened with that kiss.

* * *

**Meanwhile at Langley**

Langston Graham was leaning back into his chair watching the surveillance footage of his newest team's latest mission, trying bravely to keep the grin of his face so that the analysts who were currently using his office as an operations centre wouldn't pick up on his true emotions.

The team that had prepared the scuba gear for Chuck and Sarah's escape days before had also broken into the house and set up small surveillance devices, even in the meeting room. All this was so Graham could watch his protégé's working together, thanks to the devices it no longer mattered what the two retrieved he only wanted to see the results of their teamwork.

Both spies had unrivalled skill, he knew that but so did everyone else. What really made them the best was that neither liked to think inside the box, both were unpredictable and could improvise. Despite problems Graham knew they could make the perfect team if they could co-operate, perfect for taking down the new threat fulcrum presented.

Although Graham would only admit it to himself, even he had not expected things to work out so well as he re watched the surveillance clip of Walker and Carmichael in an embrace. He laughed knowing their was nothing professional there.

* * *

**So any good, yes? no? Let me know who's reading, Considering how many alerts I got since the last chapter I know your there don't be lazy let me know what you think. Reviews really are great inspiration to keep writing. **

**I hope there weren't too many mistakes or inconsistencies this time around, should be improvements for the next one. Also I thought it was a pretty good compromise for those who wanted them to succeed their mission and those who wanted them to fail, let me know if you enjoyed. **

**Oh real quick, I'm aware I didn't answer everyone's reviews, usually I make it my priority to let you know I care but I really am busy. Still I need to express one issue, I intend to introduce every character at some point. Casey, Ellie, Morgan, Carina everyone. **

**Till next time XD**


	9. Friends?

CHUCK VS THE NEW PARTNER

–Friends?–

**I expect this chapter wont be what most people were hoping for, especially after such a long break from me. Its shorter simply because I decided to scrap the idea I had been working on for about a month, I had managed to write myself into a corner and I had no idea where I was going to take things from there. SO in short I outright got rid of it and wrote fresh, as a result its shorter(not terribly so I think) but its going to work like a transitional chapter that will set me up much better for a more complete story next chapter. And if that isn't enough to stop the death threats (Y'know who you are lol) I give you my version of _The Smoulder XD_**

**I have to give serious props to Costas for this chapter and virtually sitting behind me with a rifle and yelling _TYPE MONKEY BOY TYPE. _Well not really but we were close to that point since I wouldn't stop dragging my ass. Also I am formally announcing I have begun the planning stages of my revenge on Costas for attempts of bribary against the great state of well ME (You've been Warned) **

**(I'm trying not to ramble I really am) How Awesome has the season been so far, I am determined to use Timothy Dalton's line "Cool a tiny weapons fight" I can only dream of the opportunity to say it in real life. And don't even get me started on Phase 3, I think I cried *COUGH* Y'know a manly tear that is. Just goes to show how great an actress Yvonne Strahovski is, really hope that campaign going around gets her nominated for that emmy. **

**Another reason for this chapter being out was so that I could wish you all a very happy Christmas (for those who celebrate it of course) and that you are all blessed with your very own kick ass ninja spy girls and of course computer uploaded nerds for the ladies, under your trees this year however unlikely that is *sigh* In all seriousness your comments to what I have written have truely been fantastic gifts to me and I wish you all a happy holiday. **

**Lastly for a change of pace I decided to use a little line from one of my all time favourite films, I wonder if you can guess (Yea I wouldn't bother either but humour me XD) **

* * *

**Chuck POV **

Chuck & Sarah weren't too concerned about their identities being compromised after their mission, and decided to wait till the next morning before they jumped on a plane back to Langley, using the passports they had left with, instead of preparing a set of fakes. All of which including the small amount of luggage between them, were in the old hotel room or rather now with the CIA team that had cleaned it out.

Chuck removed one of the Pepsi cans from their new hotel's mini fridge and slowly made his way over to one of two chairs positioned on the outside veranda.

The night air felt good as he breathed in, and he was suddenly very thankful that Sarah volunteered to talk to the clean up team and retrieve the small amount of possessions they would have cleaned out of their old hotel.

With her gone Chuck could relax, as much as any agent on assignment could anyway. He needed to process what happened tonight. She kissed him...Sarah Walker kissed him, and whilst that was important, what he was having a problem with was that he kissed her back.

He knew Sarah had only done it as a way to play up their cover and to divert suspicion, but if he was honest with himself he couldn't be sure those were His reasons for kissing her.

Sarah has had a strange effect on him from the first moment she came into his life. One moment she could be the most infuriating woman that he had ever had the misfortune of meeting, and the next he wanted to smile simply because she looked in his direction.

The nerd inside him insisted that there was something different, that he wasn't the only one left with a burning heat covering his lips and stars clouding their vision, that even if her reason for kissing him was to play the cover she felt something.

Of course the not so hopeless romantic that was his spy side reasoned, that so far they had been in at least one fight whenever they had come into contact with each other, why would she actually want to kiss him if that was the case. Not to mention that spies don't form attachments.

As he sat there on the veranda looking over the surrounding area taking steady pulls from his drink, Chuck decided to let the issue drop. Over thinking things would only turn it into a problem, and when two agents had a problem it wasn't long before someone found themselves on the receiving end of a bullet.

Still despite his claims otherwise his mind kept drifting back to the kiss they shared, it became so bad that he hadn't even noticed Sarah stepping into the hotel room. After spotting him out on the veranda she grabbed two beers out of many from the mini fridge and made her way out to him.

Chuck only became aware of her presence as she came up behind him and placed one of the cold drinks to the side of his face. The sudden sensation surprised him so much that he literally fell out of the deck chair he had been lazing in, and he assumed a combat stance after getting to his feet once again; his Pepsi, a forgotten puddle on the floor.

It didn't take him long to notice that his attacker was no other than Sarah, and she had a grin that threatened to split her face in two. In direct contrast to her obvious amusement Chuck was not pleased with her stunt and slowly trudged himself back onto his chair and fell back into it with a defeated sigh.

"Was that really necessary?" Sarah's response was to again hold out the cold beer to him, except this time he took it in hand and tilted the bottle in her direction to thank her as she herself sank down in the deck chair next to him taking a pull on her own beer.

"Well I figure since I'm not allowed to kill you, I still have a shot with death by natural courses. You have a heart attack, Graham lets me do what I do best...and on my own" She looked at him with mischief in her eyes and the smirk on her lips.

"Cute" He swirled the contents of the bottle before taking a large drink and looked back out over Italy enjoying the view, and tried not to focus too much on his partner's change in mood and his inexplicable urge to kiss the smirk from her lips.

"Everything go ok with the clean up" Chuck mumbled without looking in her direction.

"Yup grabbed our passports, the rest of our stuff is going to be sent ahead of us to Langley."

"Well that's one problem out of the way, personally I just cant wait till this mission is over with. Seriously five years and I don't think I've ever had a mission go so far off plan."

Sarah looked over to him for the first time since she sat down and he really wished she wouldn't, it was getting hard to keep his thoughts under control when she was staring at him, "Not even that one in Oregon,? That wonderdog Kujo ?"

Chuck would have spit out his beer if he hadn't already suspected that she had information on some of his missions, they were spies. He figured if he had managed to find some of her mission info she must have too. Although he had to admit he didn't expect her to know specifics.

"Budro...and that wasn't my fault, he was a retriever and he was acting on his natural instincts. Budro was never a target I would never harm an animal. Not my fault those idiots were trying to flush game with dynamite"

Chuck was still pissed about that incident through no small amount of guilt, and he had assumed he had done more than enough favours to make sure that the information on that mission was buried.

Apparently not well enough to stop Sarah. _Still..._Chuck thought as he took another drink of the cool beer in his hand..._Seems I need to have a little chat with those analysts, I paid for all of them to go to Comi-con and they still cant stay quiet...I didn't even get to go!. _

"Besides I got the mission done didn't I, It wasn't subtle but I did it. But now that you mention it, I suppose things could have gone worse for our first mission."

Sarah smiled a real genuine smile, and it was probably one of the first he'd been allowed to see from her, The standard agency smile that every agent seemed to have had gotten boring to him a long time ago, to the point where every agent seemed to look the same to him.

"Exactly Chuck, now I cant really say I've played fetch with explosives..." Her smile turned sinister with mischief, clearly she enjoyed that little story, still he couldn't really find himself regretting it if some embarrassment was all it took to win him her smile for the night, that dazzling full faced smile, "But even my missions have gone wrong too at times even if it is rare, happens to all spies."

"That incident with the foreign national was a personal favourite of mine" Sarah seemed to turn white at his comment. He chuckled under his breath wondering if that's what he looked like after she brought up his embarrassing mission.

He remembered laughing the entire time he was reading the field report, Sarah ended up breaking the nose of the national she was supposed to be protecting, and her only excuse to her superiors was "He's a smirker" Luckily for her that the very same punch that broke his nose, knocked the guy on his ass and dodged the sniper bullet that was meant to take his life.

"He didn't duck so I did the only thing I could think of to get him out of the bullets path, he should have been bowing at my feet rather than trying to get me fired" Sarah pulled back the rest of her beer and placed the empty bottle next to her on the floor from her position in the deck chair.

He wasn't sure how much of that was true but he decided to let it go and just gave a small chuckle, apparently the noise angered Sarah because he was immediately awarded with a death glare, "Hey I'm not arguing with you, I know how hard it can be to keep an asset safe when they don't listen."

"Well at least we can agree on something it seems. Still I figure you would make a horrible asset" Chuck looked towards her confused at where she suddenly steered the conversation, "What's that supposed to mean, what makes me a bad asset I figure I would be a great help to any handler assigned to me"

Sarah laughed into the night air, "Exactly! You'd clearly defy any orders your handler gave you, trying to help and getting in the way. I bet you wouldn't even listen to a simple stay in the car command."

"Hey I think I could manage to stay in a car I'm not that defiant" He finished off his own beer but instead of putting it next to his chair, he pulled himself to his feet, grabbed Sarah's finished bottle and quickly stepped back inside their hotel room to get them some more, from the overstocked and overpriced mini fridge.

"Sure sure" Sarah's voice could be heard following after him into the room from the veranda.

* * *

_**2 hours later... and a mini fridge of drinks.**_

"I just don't get how it works" Sarah said clearly starting to feel the effects of the alcohol. He wasn't surprised he was feeling it too, empty bottles literally covered the floor between them and Chuck was dreading the hangover coupled with their early flight in the morning.

"Don't get what?" Chuck was starting to slur his words slightly. Belonging to a fraternity at Stanford had largely built up his tolerance to alcohol long ago. And since becoming and agent for the CIA they had made sure he was as prepared to counter any drugs that may enter his system out in the field, including alcohol.

That being said Chuck was struggling to keep up with Sarah, she was just downing her drinks one after the other as if they were water, and unless his drunken haze was fooling him she had already pushed ahead by two to three drinks.

"How can you be super-spy Charles Carmichael and be a gee...nerd. As far as I know that's not exactly how things usually work." Sarah seemed to stare at him harder from her perch on the deck chair as if she was trying to figure him out by looking at him with more focus, well as much focus as she could manage given the state she was in.

"Well I put it to you that we nerds are the perfect candidates for spies, after all we've probably done more research than anyone on the subject. We've seen every spy movie out there, played innumerable stealth games." Chuck smiled as he continued, Sarah looked like she was really thinking over every word, "...And the farm will take care of the physical training. So see don't knock the nerds were a valuable commodity.

He lifted his drink to his lips and polished of the last of the bottle, he placed it on the floor next to its other empty counterparts and looked for another. He could here Sarah giggling in her chair next to him as he searched for another drink.

"I like you Chuck" His eyes shot off the floor and locked with Sarah's, she was staring at him with the sweetest smile he had ever seen, or expected from someone who was often called the Ice Queen within the CIA.

He could only hope that his trade mark grin was spreading along his face right now but through the alcohol induced haze he had the sneaking suspicion that he was looking at her like she had just grown a second head.

His reaction didn't seem to be the one she was looking for as it quickly turned to a frown before becoming the expressionless mask field agents were known for, as if she realised she said something she should have. She picked up the last sealed bottle next to her and threw it into Chuck's lap, before getting up and walking into their hotel room, "I'm heading to bed" She seemed to have sobered, and none of the jovial air they had been experiencing before was in her voice, instead it was cold and empty.

Chuck threw his face into his palm knowing that he had just lost one of the few chances he had to establishing a friendly relationship in their partnership. This was the second time he had done it since they had arrived in Italy, the first being the issue with her dress.

Each time he had hurt her feelings because...even if he was honest with himself Chuck couldn't explain why he acted the way he did around Sarah.

If it had been someone like Carina Hanson he would have complimented her on her beauty and the way she had worn the dress, if she had been here with him now he would probably said something like he enjoyed her company too. For Sarah however it seems his brain couldn't connect to his mouth and things seemed to end in the worst possible scenario.

He stayed out on that veranda for at least another half hour nursing that least beer Sarah had thrown at him trying to understand his unease around his partner. However he eventually gave up and walked into their hotel room, quietly he ducked into the bathroom changing into some sleepwear before walking back out and sliding quietly into their bed.

Even for a spy he was being quiet, after last time they had stayed the night in Italy he didn't want to piss her off again by trying to get out of sharing a bed with her, even if she was mad at him he knew her professionalism wouldn't let her or rather him get out of it. Also he didn't want to take the risk of pissing her off even more than the bed issue by waking her up while he climbed into bed and tried to get comfortable.

* * *

**_45 Minutes later..._**

As he lay there on the edge of the bed tense and alert for any movement of his bed mate his mind seemed to come to attention and the reason for his awkwardness around Sarah Walker seemed to make sense, as if a part of his conscious had been focusing on the problem all along.

He was afraid of her.

All the suspicion about her every action and intention, never being able to hold a conversation with her without saying something stupid. Charles Carmichael was afraid of Sarah Walker, or was it Chuck Bartowski.

He wasn't afraid of what she could do to him physically as an enemy, despite his resistance to hurting women in any way he was confident that they would be on pretty even footing, especially if their little wrestling match on the running trail was any indication.

What he was afraid of was that ever since he had met Sarah, no maybe even before that. Ever since he had heard her name and obsessively tried to gather more information on her, she seemed to penetrate those walls the CIA had built for him to keep him safe.

There was no way she could know what type of effect she was having on him, even he thought it was ridiculous, but despite his best efforts Sarah Walker had plagued his thoughts now and for a long time. The only conclusion he could come up with was that his fear was keeping him on the defensive when it came to interacting with Sarah, whenever they seemed to be getting along or she did something he didn't expect he would just pull back.

Chuck was scared of Sarah, he didn't know what it was about her that caused this problem but he knew that it was his problem and not hers. It wasn't fair to her that not only did she have to deal with a partner she didn't want, but Sarah didn't know how he was going to react to any thing she said.

It was something he knew he was going to have to work on. Although he didn't know how at the moment, Chuck just hoped he would get used to her during their forced partnership and he could start acting like the regular Charles Carmichael that he was trained to be.

* * *

**What do you think I may have rushed Chucks emotions to the kiss a little this chapter but admitadly Im still experimenting on the pace I want to take this fic. **

**About updates I have good news, the overtime at work which has partly (the rest I hate to admit is me being lazy) resulted in the last two very slow updates is starting to come to an end after christmas, I'm hoping to see faster updates from me so yea good news unless you all just lie to me and really hate this fic lol. **

**Should I take longer than the end of January this time to give you an update, I uhhhh will owe you each...one cookie um yes a cookie. And I know I mostly life of microwave meals and Chinese take out but surprisingly (Even to me) I bake cookies. Really not doing much for my man points admiting that being a 19 yr old straight male I bake but I do, and I will give you each one should I fail you again (And I only bake because of a sweet tooth so dont even go there lol). If not I got nothing and you can just go ahead and y'know beat me with the stupid stick. **

**Oh and I decided to have Chuck be the slightly emotionally stunted one because he went through the same training as everyone else, but I like to think that because he does actually have something to lose (aka ellie, morgan etc) it makes him stronger but he cant really connect to who he was before the CIA because he is so protective and is having a hard time coming to grips with someone who shakes his boundaries. Its an experiment deal with it, or we can talk it out and you can share your opinions. **

**Yea so like I said Love to hear your opinions and ideas so dont be afraid to speak your mind I reply to everyone and we can have a good back and forth and if you want me to shut up you can say that too XD (At least I think I got everyone this time, oh but dont forget to be logged in or I cant respond) **

**And I have to ask this question, is it snowing for anyone else, I work at DHL (Parcel company) So I want you to know that I don't say this with a light heart that I will literally kill someone if this snow keeps getting on my nerves like it is XD. **


	10. Snake In The Eagles Shadow

CHUCK VS THE NEW PARTNER

_–Snake in the Eagle's Shadow–_

**Whew made it by the skin of my teeth, told you I could get it in before the end of January. Still not sure how impressive that actually is considering you guys manage weekly updates (you show me up so bad XD) **

**Anywho Chapters out, tried something a little different so let me know if you enjoy it. I time skipped a bit so I could begin moving their relationship forward which even though I haven't planned how I will probably start next chapter. Oh and sorry for the corny title I found some of my old kung fu tapes in the house and was watching through them at the weekend but hopefully you'll see how it relates. Oh and if you havent seen it you really should love it lol **

**One last announcement I wont be writing for the next two weeks because I have an awesome super duper new laptop coming (Alienware always wanted one) cost me a bomb but hey I worked the overtime so yea. The point I'm trying to make is that even though I wont be writing for two weeks I imagine I'm going to want to break the bad boys keyboard in so hopefully maybe we can all get a quick update after two weeks, even though I promise nothing becuase we all know how that goes. **

**Anyway mistakes are mine so point out anything thats paticularly bad an I'll correct it at my earliest opertunity. And well enjoy! Oh almost forgot ENZ8 really helped me out with the Sniping so big thanks there, seriously like a walking talking wikipedia. **

* * *

**Chuck POV**

**Somewhere in Germany**

Its been a month since Italy and Chuck has tried his best to get back into Sarah's graces, if he was ever there to begin with. As he watches her now cradling the Dragunov SVU rifle with all the care he would imagine a mother would her child, he couldn't help but feel like he had made progress.

Although they still got into arguments fairly often they seemed to have found a way to work around each other and get on with their jobs. Chuck had found some control over his brain to mouth filter and could hold at least a five minute conversation with the beautiful blonde without unintentionally insulting her or hurting her feelings in some way or another. Sarah herself hadn't found herself a reason to give him the cold shoulder for at least a week.

Chuck still sighed at the memory of their Italy mission.

On their way back to Langley to report to Graham; not only had she been able to ignore him all night, morning, and their flight and drive to Langley. But she had also simultaneously been able to silence any attempts he had made to talk to her with a glare that could rival any horror story villain.

* * *

**Outside Graham's office **

If Chuck had found waiting outside of Graham's office before now uncomfortable, it didn't really compete with his current situation. Sarah sat next to him in the chair on his left and adamantly refused to look in his direction, and since it seemed he wasn't allowed to talk in her presence he could even engage in small talk.

Although he had controlled the habit in recent years Chuck was still very much a talker and the agony he was feeling right now was down right cruel.

It didn't help that for whatever reason whenever Denise, Graham's secretary, glanced in his direction giving him a small smile, Sarah would briefly look at him with that cold glare she had blessed him with whenever she had looked at him since Italy. That look always froze him on the spot and made his blood run cold.

He didn't understand why she glared at him like that whenever Denise smiled at him but if he had to guess it was probably Sarah thinking that if she wasn't going to be nice to him then no one else could either, its like the whole world had to cooperate with her and make Chuck suffer in solitude.

At least that's the path Chuck's thoughts were on when Sarah stood up from her seat and headed over to Graham's office door.

It seems they were called in so Chuck put on the air of professionalism he had struggled to keep a grip on since he had met Sarah and decided to follow her footsteps into the office.

* * *

**Germany**

**15 minutes left till target arrival**

Chuck shivered at the events of last month and mentally patted himself on the back for somehow getting himself out of Sarah's bad books. He stood next to her now no longer looking through the binoculars in his right hand, but instead at her.

He knew their target wouldn't be arriving for another 15 minutes, after all they had been at this for almost a week watching his comings and goings, the man kept a tight schedule making him rather predictable even for a newly minted agent.

This allowed Chuck to spend a few minutes gazing at his partner's prone form on the floor of the rented office space they had leased for the mission, not that he would ever admit he was.

Besides its not like he would be doing the hard part, Sarah was the one taking the shot, she was the better sniper all he had to do was acquire the rifle and set up the space without revealing any traces that the CIA had been involved.

The office space was easy enough, they knew where their target was going to be and luckily enough the space they were using was directly opposite his office building.

Chuck was able to do it all over a secure phone line and never once had to meet a member of the company who was renting the space, thanks to some clever double speak and a rather suave German accent in his opinion.

The rifle had been slightly harder, he knew Sarah was an accomplished sniper if her record was even close to accurate, but he didn't want to make it any harder for her than it had to be. Sadly he only had access to European weaponry if they were to keep suspicions of American agents being involved.

This meant that he had to use black market means to secure the weaponry and shouldn't resort to using CIA resources.

After a few back alley meetings, which were rather cliché in his opinion he settled on the Dragunov SVU built in Russia and it had a maximum range of roughly 400 meters. They were going to be about 500 from the target, Chuck recalled dialling Sarah's number and how relaxed he was to hear the confidence in her voice when she said that stretching that 100 meters wouldn't be an issue.

He bought a bulk of 7.62x54mmR cartridges and had them delivered to a run down warehouse about 5 miles away from the meeting point. He took a single cartridge from the seller on sight and left hoping the aviators on his face and cap on his head covered his identity well enough, should anyone ever come asking.

He kept a tight grip on the rucksack that contained the dissembled Dragunov and quickly placed the cartridge inside next to it. They had already decided that one cartridge would be all they needed, Sarah wouldn't have any time to practice firing the gun and if she missed the target then they wouldn't get the chance for anymore shots.

The other bullets would simply be dead weight to them and Chuck only bought them to cover up the fact the rifle was going to be a one time use situation and prevent any potential leaks that he and that particular rifle was used in the high profile assassination they were about to commit. This was the reason why he had them delivered to a run down warehouse

The warehouse in question was a well known raid spot for local police and thanks to his snooping he found there was a scheduled raid just two days after they left Germany. Thanks to this the bullets would be found too late to be any consequence to them and they would be off the black market and would be back with authorities.

The theory was it should be a perfect clean-up all that was left was Sarah to make the shop and kill their target. His part was more or less done but like a good partner he stayed with her during the shooting so that he could act like a spotter for her.

Not having much to do overall however left his mind to wander.

* * *

**Inside Graham's office**

"Good work in Italy agents, we were able to get quite a bit of information on their future activities thanks to your efforts. Currently we have analysts going over the recording to double check that no code phrases were used during the meeting that might indicate they were up to something else."

Graham shuffled some papers on his desk, which to Chuck appeared to be their field reports they had send ahead of themselves the night before.

"I understand that things didn't go as well as planned out their and given it was your first mission working together that's rather unfortunate, but things like this happen and both of you adapted better than I would expect, so first and foremost a well done on a successful mission." Both Chuck and Sarah respectfully nodded their heads in acknowledgement allowing Graham to continue.

"Now the reason I called you two back here was so that I could explain certain facts to you. First you need to be aware that everything I say from this point on ward must not leave this room. Your free to discuss this information between the two of you, but make sure your in a secure environment and that your confident you cannot be overhead by any means including electronically.

And as I'm sure your both aware if you must contact me outside of this building, use the phones I had sent to your hotel room. They are the most secure means of communication I was able to to acquire without tipping certain forces to my intentions."

During Graham's slightly paranoid sounding explanation, Chuck's gaze kept flickering over to Sarah as he watched her shift in her seat in he assumed nerves as they waited for Graham to reveal whatever it was that had him acting so cautious.

"Agents its time you are made aware of the War we currently find ourselves in, unfortunately our enemies this time are domestic and they have already managed to infiltrate deep into most major intelligence agencies and the government...

* * *

**Germany **

**10 minutes till target arrival **

"You ok Sarah? Your being pretty quiet down there" He shifted slightly so his body was facing her rather than towards the windows.

"I'm fine, just trying to concentrate I cant risk messing this up" She shifted her own weight on the floor again and ran through another mental drill, she seemed so focused as she also dry fired the gun as if she was shooting for her target.

"Please you'll be fine I have no doubt, tell you what where done I'll take you out for lunch as a reward, huh? What do you say?" He continued his attempts to treat Sarah as just another friend and not some strange enigma that stirred confusing feelings and rash actions inside himself.

"Why?" Her breathing was slow as she squeezed the trigger between breaths or further possibly between heartbeats judging by Sarah's skill level.

"What do you mean why? You haven't eaten all die right?" He already knew she hadn't before he asked. He knew that she wouldn't eat so that she could avoid sugars and caffeine that may perhaps effect her performance.

"That's not what I mean, why do you want to take me to lunch?" Her tone was questioning as if their seemed to be no reasonable explanation for him wanting to be around her more than he had to.

True given their previous actions perhaps that would make sense, but since he had met her Chuck had never felt the need to get away when he was in Sarah's presence, dare-say he enjoyed it when they weren't fighting.

"Well were friends right? Friends go out to lunch all the time" As Chuck finished talking for the first time since she had set up the rifle in her hands Sarah actually looked up to him with an expression that he to be honest found quite adorable.

Thankfully fear for certain parts of his anatomy prevented him from voicing those thoughts out loud.

"Since when?" The confusion was evident in her voice and his smile only widened at the sound

"I don't know since the dawn of time maybe. Personally I don't know the first ever pair of friends who decided to eat together but they were clearly trend setters." He was about to continue but at her now pointed look he figured she wasn't talking about the lunch.

"Aww what you don't see me as a friend yet, I thought we'd been getting along. Don't you like me I like you" He figured saying the same line from the Italy mission was going to be a gamble. She would either hit him for reminding her that he had failed to reply that night or she would perhaps maybe grace him with a smile for finally saying it even if he was a little bit late.

And Chuck Bartowski had himself a winner when Sarah Walker smiled. She had already turned back to stare down the sights of the Dragunov before she replied.

"Fine you can buy me lunch but I'm going to order a ton so make sure your prepared to pay out" Her soft lips still formed their smile as she continued her drills with her rifle.

Chuck smiled as he moved the blinds covering the large office windows looking once again from his binoculars, "knock yourself out"

* * *

**Graham's office **

"Fulcrum sir?" Sarah pushed forward in her seat as if it would prompt their superiors reply somehow.

"Fulcrum...is perhaps one of, if not _the_ biggest threat to this nations security at this time. Very little specific information has been revealed so far about the organization. We also have very limited information on their motives, and their full agenda is still a mystery at this time.

What makes them so dangerous is the fact that we are having an incredibly hard time identifying those who work for the organization.

Unfortunately it would seem that the forces that control the organization are keeping its members on need to know basis, often giving them no more information than what they need to complete whatever mission they were assigned. This is making it rather difficult to retrieve any useful information from members we have been able to capture.

Again the bad news is that these Fulcrum agents we have managed to capture have all been respected agents belonging to our own intelligence agencies or at least we thought they were.

"Could you perhaps use those you have captured as bait and flush out more of them" Chuck offered as he came to understand the danger of facing an unknown enemy who may even be working within his own agency.

"That was the plan Agent Carmichael but alas Fulcrum have connections and although the agents in custody had been subject to interrogation, before we could actually utilize them against this rouge agency they were assassinated inside secure facilities with no clue as to the culprit."

Chuck fell back into the chair deflated, Sarah seemed to have a similar reaction as him clearly just as surprised that a rouge agency could have grown to such power without anyone noticing.

"Agents the reason I am telling you this is because you are going to be this country's key to bringing down these bastards. I didn't just assign you two together simply because you were both without partners, I did it because I recruited you both personally and I trust you both impeccably and without question"

Graham allowed a small smile to grow before he stomped it down, "And you two are such a big pain in my ass separately I figured if I pointed you both directly to the enemy, it wont be long before they fall"

"Now for your mission...You two are to go independent, away from the agency. We don't know who we can and cant trust so you need to work on the assumption that everyone is a potential rouge agent." He rose from his chair and pulling one manila folder out from the draw of his desk and laying it down.

"I'm afraid this is all the Intelligence I can give you on Fulcrum, the rest your going to have to find yourselves, using as little of the agency's resources and analysts as you can. I know this is difficult to hunt for a invisible enemy by yourselves but we cant risk Fulcrum catching wind of what your trying to do. "

Chuck pulled the folder of the desk giving it a quick scan through before passing it over to Sarah. Graham really wasn't joking about having very little information, from what he could tell they best they had managed to get their hands on was a small list of known associates to the dead Fulcrum agents they had captured.

"You wont need to do field reports but on occasion contact me on the secure line's and give me a run down of anything you find, although the less contact we have the better. I believe you two are safe but I wouldn't be surprised if they have me monitored."

Chuck and Sarah both seemed to sense that everything that needed to be said had been and they rose from their seats nodding in Graham's direction before heading for the door. Chuck had almost pulled the door back before his superiors voice broke through this haze his mind had developed into throughout the course of the meeting.

"And agents even though I'm monitored I should be able to have reports forged on some fake missions to throw them off your scent, on occasion I may need to call you back to perform some the missions but other than that...stay away from the CIA"

* * *

**Germany **

**5 minutes till target arrival **

Since that day Chuck and Sarah had completed a couple of different of the book missions across the globe trying to catch up to anyone who may have had dealings with Fulcrum in the past.

They had quickly discovered that whatever it was they were trying to accomplish Fulcrum was actively taking part in illegal operations to supply income into their organization, such as illegal arms trade and drug trafficking.

Every time they managed to scrape even the tiniest bit of information on them it seemed to be a double edged sword as they got what they wanted, but it only seemed to highlight how far fulcrum had managed to infiltrate their government and intelligence agencies. The sheer scope of their operation was enormous and it was an almost daunting task to attempt to fight against them with only two agents.

Chuck was brought out of his thoughts when Sarah stopped one of her drills halfway through. Looking down at her her jaw seemed to have stiffened in concentration, and looking out the window he could see why. The target's sedan had just pulled into his parking spot in front of the large building before them.

They had quickly learned at the start of this op that although their target was a predictable person he was also careful.

Despite his office window facing towards the street and in turn them making for an ideal sniping position, it would seem he had his windows made to be resistant to any such attempts stopping any plans from shooting him from outside his office.

Regular explosives checks inside his office made bombing the S.O.B difficult. And sadly using a larger bomb at the base of the building would not only be over the top but was impossible due to the innocent office workers who had no idea of their bosses drug connections.

Typical of their luck his workplace was still the easiest target due to the immense security measures he kept on his residence, making the Italian villa they had infiltrated at the start of their partnership look like a walk in the park.

Still so long as Sarah could make the shot between him stepping out of the car and before he got in the building they would be alright. They just had to make sure get out of the building as quick as they could before anyone could figure out where the shot came from, and then slip into the screaming crowds below.

"Chuck head's up" Sarah shifted her weight one last time on the floor and prepared herself for taking the man's life.

"I see him, no problems"

Considering the amount of planning they put into the op this last week, the moment Sarah squeezed that trigger it was rather anti-climactic. A resounding bang rang through the office and out into the street, their target falling like your typical video game character.

If he tried he could almost convince himself it was just him and Morgan playing Call Of Duty back in Burbank...almost.

Sarah was up from the floor in less that two seconds and has already began to dissemble the Dragunov SVU and put it back into the duffel bag. Chuck himself was closing the small crack in the blinds Sarah had fired through to reduce chances of anyone spotting them, he just hoped the movement didn't attract anyone's eyes.

Bending down he grabbed the expended cartridge and threw it in the bag along with the rifle parts. Sarah zipped up the bag and quickly climbed onto one of the desks to hide the bag in one of the ceiling tiles.

After everything had been covered up for their escape they quickly removed the gloves they had been wearing and stuffed them inside their pockets before taking 3 stairs a time trying to get out of the building.

Before they hit the bottom however they slowed themselves down and controlled their breathing. Stepping out into the street Sarah wrapped her arm's around Chucks and they looked like just another couple in the crowd.

They were so quick people were only now starting to realise what had happened as some people began shouting for an ambulance. Chuck ignored it as he continued to lead them away from their now dead target.

"You owe me lunch" Chuck smiled as Sarah reminded him of the promise he made.

_Target: Richard Becker _

_DOB: 07/03/1970_

_Known supplier of cocaine to Fulcrum labs in the U.S _

_Crippling their supplier in Germany should force Fulcrum to seek out another supplier or a new way to rejuvenate their income. _

_Giving Agents Walker and Carmichael a way into their operation._

* * *

**So what do you think, I know there wasnt a lot of progression this chapter between Chuck & Sarah but hey atleast their not fighting and I promise I'm going to start moving them forward. No evil tricks this time from me I swear. **

**Really I'd love to hear some feedback on this chapter, it was a little strange skipping back and forth between scenes and I hope it wasnt too confusing for everyone. If some people request it I'll try and tidy it up a bit if you need me too. Again I think I responded to everyone's review this time but sorry if I missed you.**


	11. A Crazy Man And A Game Of Lust

CHUCK VS THE NEW PARTNER

"A Crazy Man and A Game of Lust"

**I'm late, life sucks, this chapter may make little to no sense, I'm three eps behind on Chuck. And were going to leave it at that, no need to remind me of my lateness I'm well aware.**

**The only thing im going to say is this to clarify some question asked since I didn't have time to personally respond to reviews this time:**

**Fulcrum in my story are more or less exactly the same as they were in the show, I just figured that since they are willing to kill other agents then they wont have problems performing other Illegal activities to complete their objectives. So they use narcotics, human trafficking, and arms trade as ways to finance their slow take over of the goverment, since I figure something like that costs money and they need it from somewhere. Chuck and Sarah at the moment are trying to locate and destroy any operations that are having dealings with Fulcrum in hopes of crippling and finding information on the overall operation that is Fulcrum.**

**Hope that cleared things up, if managed to confuse anyone dont worry about sending me a message and I can try again to explain (although I barely get it myself) just expect my response to take a few days due to my current brain r%*ing, life-sucking, and please God temporary Schedule.**

**...**

**I figure its time to update this and remind you my fellow nerds and nerdettes and all those belonging to Chuck's beloved stable of hoe's that I do not in fact own Chuck despite my futile attempt at selling my black little soul to the devil for it, all that got me was a packet of peanuts and a condom. If I did in fact own CHUCK I would be the creepy guy in the corner trying to resist my stalker tendencies and follow the cast and crew around like a golden retriever.**

* * *

**Fulcrum lab **

"What!" The diminutive man yelled, his voice reverberating off of the walls inside of the laboratory. The increase in volume caused the scientists inside the room to look away from their work and towards the commotion.

The man shouting inside one of many Fulcrum drug laboratories across the states was Chris Johnson, responsible for gathering and distributing product and providing valuable income to Fulcrum operations across the states.

Although considered quite unstable to many of his subordinates and even to some of those in charge, no one doubted his operational effectiveness. Despite being slightly over weight and quickly balding Johnson had been involved in countless operations throughout his career in the military. Known for being a brilliant tactician with a tendency to come up with high risk methods for those under his command.

"How have we lost our supplier in Germany, I had my own men guarding that fool" Scratching at his head his toupee shifted and left no doubt that it was not his natural hair, however the scientists had learned early on not to point out the fact and pretend as if nothing had happened.

When the man in front of them first became their direct supervisor; he had provided a painful lesson for all of them, that pointing out this fact would not end well for their careers or their lives.

"No one should have been able to get close to him!...That sack of shit probably got himself killed on purpose to show me up to the bosses." He slammed his fist down onto the metal table causing vials of various size to fall to the floor, sending shards of glass across the floor.

One of the scientists moved closer to the table in an attempt to sooth the raging man, "Sir he was shot from long range during one of the few times he was away from the protective measures of his office, or residence. We have found the shooters nest and the weapon used, but there's no clue's to the assassin's identity"

He sighed when his boss raised his eye brow in doubt, "Sir I'm sure he didn't get himself shot on purpose"

Johnson had to bite back the urge to pull his gun on the man who had interrupted his rant, he had thought by now his lackeys would have learned not to interrupt him.

"So you say...Ok well I still have a quota to reach this month and the bosses aren't going to accept that loss of a single supplier as a good enough excuse." He moved closer to the man who had interrupted him previously, " Listen Petey...

"Um its Paul sir..."

"As I was saying Petey, I just wanted to thank you for volunteering yourself to the cause if things go wrong" He swung his arm around the shoulders of the newly named Petey

A chill run the length of the scientists spine at his superiors words, "I don't think I follow sir"

"Well don't you think its great that our bond of friendship is so incredible that if the bosses decided I'm going down for this, then your wiling to come with me"

"I-I'am Sir?"

"Course you are, because that's what Friends-Are-For-Right? Petey?" His grip on the man's shoulder increased everytime he spoke to the point where it was now painful.

"Right Sir, of c-course anything for yy-you" He offered a weak smile in an attempt to get him to release the incredible pressure he was applying to his shoulder.

"Gooooood...Now piss of your crowding me" He kicked his leg into the chest of Petey and send him barrelling over the very table he had been slamming his fists on previously. Turning around to leave the lab he called over his shoulder, "I have work to do, one of you better have a new supplier for me by the time I come back."

He didn't need to even add a threat to the end of his sentence, they were all well aware of the results of their failure.

* * *

**Sarah POV**

**Gym**

"So...I found some information through...some back channels" Sarah said slightly out of breath from the intense workout the two partners had been involved in for the last two hours.

Chuck and Sarah had spent the afternoon down in the gym, it wasn't long into their partnership before Sarah suggested that they spar together, to better get to know one another's styles. She didn't think a wrestling match on a running trail counted.

"Oh yeah? Like what?" He threw a quick faint towards her left, but she didn't fall for it and instead stepped into his outstretched arm and pushed her own fist into his ribs sending him back towards the other end of the mats.

"Fulcrum are searching for a narcotic...supplier who can supply them...enough to meet their demands" She chased after him by throwing a high kick, but Chuck had already recovered and grabbed the leg aimed for him. Before she could counter he sweeped his own leg under the one keeping her on the floor and knocked her to her back.

"How...Much are they...after" He lifted his leg high and tried to bring it down on Sarah, But she was already rolling away and scrambling to her feet before he could make contact.

"A lot, too much for us to...get our hands on" She circled him within the matted area trying to find a drop in his guard, "Were going to have...to call Graham to arrange something."

He circled her in kind, "Cant we find a way to...fake it, calling...Graham is gonna risk our cover" He started to close in on her, Sarah tried to watch for any twitches in his joints signalling an attack but he seemed to be holding off.

"Don't you think that pretending to...have drugs we don't have is going to be...just as risky

as contacting the CIA?" He threw a punch into her side faster than she could react, and she did her best to roll with the punch trying to avoid getting winded. Chuck didn't let up as he threw a left up to her face, reacting more on instinct she caught his fist by his wrist and side stepped quickly behind his back pulling his arm along with her and twisting it high towards his back.

"Ow...Well its not like were going to give them any drugs in the first place so what does...ouch...it matter...if the drugs are real or not?" Sarah drove he foot into the back of his leg and forced him to his knees.

"Of course we aren't but if we need to front some, or they want to test it what are we supposed to do" Before Sarah could finish her hold on him he reached over his shoulder to Sarah's bent form, wrapping his arm around her head he pulled with all his strength and threw her over his shoulder.

"Sigh...I suppose so, Who's making the call to Graham?" Chuck said with a tired smile as he looked down at her from his knees as she laid on her back.

Sarah bent her body quickly and wrapped her legs around his head before he could react and pulled him over her. He landed on his back with Sarah rolling with him and sitting on his chest facing away from his face, putting her weight onto his chest through her hands she shifted herself so she was facing him, "You lose...You call"

"Whew...well...that's just cheating blondie"

Smiling in victory and noticing the silence after his last comment she looked down at her victim. Sarah noticed him start to get red and his breaths more ragged, "What's wrong with...you? You cant be that tired"

It seems Chuck was attempting to crack a smile but it came out as more of a grimace from her point of view, "Sarah...Your sitting on my chest...Its a little hard to breath"

She had to smile over the situation, Sarah never would have thought at the start of their partnership that she would have Charles Carmichael at her mercy like this. If she was honest with herself she figured he would likely be begging because she had used her knives on him.

"Are you calling me fat Carmichael?" She punctuated her point by poking her finger into her chest

He looked worried for a second, and she had to give herself a pat on the back for managing to look convincingly angry despite holding in her giggles, "_Wait since when do I giggle" _

"Well fats a little harsh...how about...curvy or big boned." Despite his earlier look of worry it seems Chuck was in on the joke too. In mock outrage Sarah started to punch his chest, "Your going to pay for that"

With her hands off his chest it seems her weight wasn't enough to keep him on the floor any longer as he rolled her off and clambered back to his feet and resumed a fighting stance, "So round two I guess, double or nothing"

* * *

**A Week Later**

**Hotel Room, Sarah POV **

"Good news, it took a while but it seems Fulcrum are taking the bait they want to set up a meet with us" They had spent over a week putting out word of a an American couple, the Anderson's hoping to sell a large amount of narcotics and were looking for a regular buyer.

"That's great Sarah sit down I got Chinese food including a magical delicacy known as sizzling shrimp, you can thank me later" Chuck was shifting around boxes distributing the food around the table for them to pick off of"

"Great I'm starving" She picked up one of the said shrimp and took a bite, "I'm just glad they took the bait, we don't exactly have many other leads if this falls through. We'll be back to sq..." Stopping mid sentence Chuck stopped eating his own meal and looked up at her.

"Everything alright"

"Oh my God these are amazing" Taking another shrimp off the table she practically devoured it, and Chuck's smile seemed to be coming off of his face with how much she was enjoying them, "Told you they were magical" She just nodded to him and continued eating

"So since we actually have no choice but to meet up with them, when are we going to do it?" Chuck had asked her as he was enjoying his own meal.

"Well I figure we make them wait for a day or two, don't want to seem to hasty do we. Then we'll contact them and confirm our interest, then they'll likely give us a time and place" She knew they would need to somehow get Fulcrum to trust them enough to take them to one of their labs or at least involve someone important enough that they could force some information from them.

"Well we have a plan I guess, cheers partner" Sarah smiled she couldn't remember the last time they had gotten along with each other so well. Since Italy Chuck had been rather open with her, even kind and although she appreciated the new dynamic in their partnership she had to wonder what changed.

After the last time Chuck had spectacularly put his foot in his mouth and the fury had worn off Sarah had found herself constantly trying to figure out what exactly made Charles Carmichael. At times he could be exactly as the rumours described him charming,brilliant, and all around super spy. Then out of nowhere he would turn robotic, practically ignore her, and would only focus on the mission whenever they started getting really close.

And probably the most confusing thing of all was when he acted like he did now. Of all the ways she had heard agents describe Chuck it was never like this, Sweet, fun, and nerdy. She was at war with herself, Sarah didn't know if she should just leave well enough alone and enjoy their partnership as it was.

But it seemed spy Sarah didn't like being left out of the loop and she had been mentally cataloguing his actions to try and piece together something that made sense. It was a little disturbing to think that she may be acting slightly like a stalker, but she quickly reasoned with herself that the better they understood each other the more effective they would be as a team.

"Sarah?"

"Huh?" Bringing her out of her thoughts was Chuck poking her arm in an attempt to get her attention.

"You stopped eating are you ok?" She was surprised at the genuine concern in his voice and the smile came involuntarily to her lips, something that had been happening regularly since Italy.

"I'm fine just trying to think of anything we may have missed for the mission" She hoped the lie didn't show on her face, still before she met Chuck that had never been a problem. She had a poker face any spy would envy, still lying to Chuck was ridiculously difficult another thing Sarah wanted to figure out the reason for.

"Hey forget about that its not often we get to relax, so try and enjoy yourself before we have to slip back into spy mode alright?"

"I never turn my spy mode off" Her face scrunched up into a grimace at actually calling it spy mode, Chuck was rubbing off on her and not in the way she wanted...not that she would ever admit to her conscious self that she wanted him in any way whatsoever.

"Well I guess I'm going to have to show you how, now aren't I." The mere thought of switching off and trying to forget her surroundings was a terrifying thought, and it was testament to the strange effect Chuck had been having on Sarah, that she didn't shoot him for making the suggestion.

"Oh and how are you going to do that?"

"Well I'd normally suggest a night of intense gaming and movies" He seemed to do a double take at her look of concern, "However considering the distinct lack any nerdy bones in your body... " She almost laughed at that, if only Chuck had seen her back in her high school days, "We'll work are way up to that. How about a game of cards"

"You want to go against me in a game of cards" The only ever game she every played with her father when they weren't conning was to play cards, and it was rather obvious to her even at a young age that the only reason they were playing in the first place was to work on her skills.

"Sure that is unless your scared? Your not scared are you Sarah" The hairs on her neck bristled at the challenge.

"Shut up and Carmichael? Hurry up and deal"

* * *

**Fulcrum Laboratory **

**At the same time as **

**Chuck & Sarah's card game**

"Um Sir, I'm sorry for interrupting but could I talk to you for a moment its about the new suppliers"

Their boss was currently torturing one of the low level lab techs inside what he liked to call his 'rec room'.

Petey didn't even want to know whatever ridiculous reason Johnson had concocted for an excuse to torture the lab tech, all he knew was that he didn't want it to be him and he was currently risking that by interrupting his boss's session.

"Petey this snivelling mess right here is in this situation because he brought me a coffee with cream and no sugar, when I clearly asked for sugar no cream. So imagine what im going to do to you if this turns out to be bad news."

"Uh well sir the new suppliers who contacted us..."

"The Anders?"

"Anderson's sir, well we've sent out some feelers to some of our agents inside the CIA...Their agents sir ." Although he didnt know it right now he was performing a rather close imitation to 'The Morgan' right now in an attempt to shield himself from his Johnson's anger.

The knife Johnson was holding in his right hand raised menacingly towards his assistant for a few seconds, "Agents, why I aught a...huh?" Just as swiftly he raised the knife he brought it down into the hand of the lab tech he currently had strapped to the metal table in his rec room.

Ignoring the man's screams and Petey's squeamish look he continued as if nothing had happened, "You know what this may not be so bad, obviously I wont be able to complete my quota for this month but come to think of it I'm sure my bosses will be just as pleased with me disposing of a couple of pesky CIA agents before they can mess up Fulcrum's plans. Yea that will work"

He picked up his coffee from the table and took a drink before looking at it curiously, "Well whadya know I did want cream no sugar" Casting his attention to the man who was now clearly going into shock from blood loss, "Turns out you were right pal, sorry about that got confused there...helloooo"

Tired of getting no response from his likely now dead subordinate he turned back towards Petey, "Change of plans Petey, stick to the original plan"

"Wait, sir I'm confused"

"What are you an idiot, let them come to us still under the belief that we think they are who they say they are, even though we don't" Petey was starting to think his boss was trying to confuse him on purpose, "Then when we have them in our lair..."

"Do you mean the lab sir?"

"That's what I said keep up! Once we have them in our _lab _we can interrogate them, torture them and kill them, or in whatever order that works best we don't necessarily need to kill them last." Petey shuffled nervously on the spot deciding it was best not to answer that particular last bit of craziness.

"So uh were going to trick them and then capture them sir?" He was pretty sure he got the jist of his boss's insanity but he needed to be sure.

"Did you not listen to a word I said, yes that exactly what were going to do!" Petey flinched when Johnson raised his voice

"Um well its a brilliant plan sir just what I would expect from you..." It seems the ass kissing wasn't going well but he decided he might as well try to avoid the fate of his dead colleague on the lab table.

"Of course it is, now of you go set things up, whilst I think i'm gonna play around in this guys brain for a bit" Johnson started picking through the lab tools on the side table, "And I do mean pick his brain quite literally, no point letting it go to waste"

Petey decided that he needed no more encouragement to leave the rec room, watching someone get dissected by a homicidal mad man sounded like a sure fire way to loose his lunch, and quite possibly his sanity shortly after.

* * *

**Chuck & Sarah's Hotel Room**

**A couple of hours in to their game **

Chuck was certain she was cheating, he was certainly not a pro at cards but every hand was a flop, every game was his loss, and Sarah's smile was not only getting bigger but it had signs of mischief behind it.

For whatever reason they had decided to bet what remaining sizzling shrimp they had left, and to the winner goes the spoils. Chuck had started with a good size of shrimp thanks to his large order from the take-out place not far from their hotel, but after just a few games with Sarah they were almost completely gone and not because he had been lucky enough to eat them.

"Y'know if I had any sense I would leave this game with whatever tasty treats I have left and stop sitting here getting slaughtered by a cheat"

"You could do that Chuck, but if you leave your forfeiting and I'm taking all the shrimp" If the cold chill running down his spine was any indication Sarah was not bluffing.

"Come on players are aloud to walk away with what chips they have left! Its called knowing when to quit" Chuck unconsciously circled his arm around the remaining shrimp in a protective gesture.

"Well were not playing with chips, were playing with little bites of heaven and when you implied I was scared you should have known I was going to play for keeps. Your just whining because I'm beating you"

"Hey your not beating me, your cheating so much you might as well be stealing my shrimp"

"Prove it!" Sarah put her cards back down on the table and reached her hand over to Chuck, "And don't mind if I do"

Luckily spy training or possibly just living in a fraternity with a bunch of other guys all willing to steal your food, had Chuck up on his feet and running away from Sarah before she even got close enough to grab anything

Sarah however abandoned the cards in favour of open theft chased after him in the hotel room. They were jumping over furniture and weaving away from each other all the while he attempted to eat his remaining shrimp whilst on the run.

Unfortunately before he could eat his last one Sarah was able to tackle him to the ground and began wrestling Chuck for the shrimp before he could get it to his mouth.

"Give it up Carmichael that shrimp is mine" Their fight was quickly beginning to resemble the one they had in Italy on the running trail. Except this time it wasn't out of anger, both were having more fun than they could remember having in a long time.

"Never! I...I..." Chuck's reply was cut of when Sarah rolled on top of him, distracting him with how soft she was. It wasn't like in the gym Sarah wasn't straddling his chest, as they were wrestling she had ended up laying on top of him entirely, chest to chest and thighs to thighs.

The heat she generated, the incredible feeling of her body as it pushed hard into his, and how she could be so soft and firm at the same time distracted him whilst Sarah ripped the shrimp from his hand and threw it into her own mouth., not yet noticing their predicament or his sudden change.

"Hah I win!" His sudden stillness must have surprised her and the lust must have shown on his face because she quickly swallowed and looked down at him from her position with dark eyes.

She was breathing harder now he could tell, not because of the flush look on her face or the warmth of her breath that spread across his face. The breath that he was currently inhaling so completely that he could detect the peppermint in her breath, despite the meal they had just eaten together.

No the reason he noticed her breathing in large lungfuls of air was because of the supple breasts that were currently being pushed into his chest.

It was incredible how they could go from fighting or having a good time to suddenly being in these passionate and overpowering situations in the drop of a hat. He would find the whole experience frankly exhausting if he didn't crave them so much each night in his dreams, when his subconscious was free to do as it pleased.

Sarah still hadn't moved and when he finally pulled himself away from the distracting thoughts her body seemed to generate in him, he found himself lost once again but this time from the pull of her lips.

Looking up into her angelic face the idea of kissing those soft ruby lips again, filled him with such horror at the thought of loosing control so completely within them. Yet at the same time he knew that kissing her outside of a mission would be perhaps one of the single greatest experiences of his life.

Now that he was aware of the perfection hanging over him it fell like some magnetic pull was dragging him towards her lips. And it might have been his imagination but it felt like she leaning her towards him too.

No sooner did Chuck ghost his lips against the soft, stimulating lips of Sarah in such a father light kiss, did the most annoying noise in the history of the universe smash through the cloud of lust that had his head swimming.

It seemed to have a similar effect on Sarah as she didn't just pull back but she completely stood up and walked over towards their forgotten meal. From his position on the floor Chuck could tell that it was her cell phone, and she seemed to be reading something on the screen.

Dragging himself off the floor to face Sarah, she didn't even turn towards him when she relayed the message, "Good news, meetings in two days." He didn't have time to reply before she was brushing past him and on her way towards her bed. "I'm tired so I think I'm going to call it a night, sleep well Chuck!"

Chuck was left standing confused and alone having no idea what was happening now or what had just happened between them before the text message.

As he stood there alone with heat filled lips around empty take out cartons and a thrown around deck of cards he couldn't help but wonder if he had potentially ruined his and Sarah's friendship again by his strange reactions to her, or if he may have opened some kind of proverbial Pandora's box for their partnership.

It was with these thoughts that Chuck headed to bed ready for a night of fitful sleeping and dreams of a blonde goddess in a world without cellphones.

* * *

**This story will not die! I care about it too much to let that happen, and if I ever thought that I couldn't finish it for whatever reason I would sincerely ask any of the talented writers in this fandom if they could possibly adopt it and finish it for me. I just need to sort mine and apparently everybody else's sh*t out, the delay this time was simply ridiculous and unacceptable and I'm not surprised a number of you fantastic people thought that I had given up I will do everything I can not to let it happen again. **

**If anyone can still remember what's going on in this fic and wanna show your love I'd really like to read your thoughts on this chapter, or perhaps the fic on a whole. Those reviews really do leave me a wonderful feeling that I gotta love you guys for it. Let me know your out there lol XD**


	12. Leave No Nerd Behind

CHUCK VS THE NEW PARTNER

"Leave No Nerd Behind"

**_*Peeks over the wall of shame with a white flag* Before you try it I just want to list the reasons why your not going to shoot, strangle, set on fire,drown, stab, poison, decapitate or a derivative of any of the above, to me that is. _**

**_*Cough* Well first of all I turn 20 tomorrow and I'm pretty sure there's an actual law that says your not allowed to kill me on my birthday. No really its there I looked it up on Wikipedia and as we all know wiki cant possibly be wrong._**

**_I see doubt, ok that's fine I have a trump card. Now in all honestly you didn't really think I would show my face around here without something to distract you form skinning me did ya? Because not only is this I think the second biggest chapter I've ever done, not only does it contain sprinklings of Charah through out, not only does it contain guns, shooting, and crazy people, but well I'm giving you another chapter tomorrow ON MY BIRTHDAY by the by *wink wink* that is just as big as this one. Now who loves you baby! Apparently someone's been watching Austin Powers._**

**_Now pretty damn sure I answered all of the reviews in the beginning but I'm afraid I lost track of recent ones do forgive me but I promise I read them all and truly appreciate every kind work, and the constructive criticism too. Now whilst I aint going to hold a chapter hostage for reviews because I'm a nice guy. I think I should remind you for quite possibly the billionth time that I turn 20 tomorrow and if you don't want to go to Hell leave me a review, I didn't say that by the way the voices did (please help me) _**

**_It might get a bit long winded in parts which sadly is my nature, explaining things where I really don't need to (case in point) But power on through there's content in there somewhere I promise. Other than that just my typical brand of mistakes...enjoy!. P.s I dont normally warn people of my shoddy writing until your trapped in my haze of lies and are compelled to finish, but even I'm not that cruel. _**

* * *

**Sarah Pov**

**Hotel Room **

"I kissed him! No I was going to kiss him! Ahhhh that's just as bad, why did I do that!" Sarah had spent the last three hours in her bed staring up at the ceiling trying to figure out what the hell had happened between her and the man she was supposed to hate.

Thoughts of Chuck's defined body pushing up against her own invaded her mind followed by the memory of his eyes, those eyes that seemed like they could almost look through all her defences, it left goosebumps across the length of her body.

Her lips, although they only glided his felt like he'd set them on fire somehow, the idea of him spreading those flames down her neck, her chest, her thighs... her...it was scary.

All these sensations flooded her brain and she didn't know how to feel about it. Her default reaction was to be angry with herself and her loss of control, and angry at Chuck for not stopping her. If she wasn't being forced to work with him with no chance of a new partner, this would be the time where she would be begging Graham if that's what it took so that he would give her a new partner.

With no possible escape from the situation Sarah was being forced to deal with things she really didn't want to. To Sarah Chuck was an amazing spy and partner when they weren't fighting, hell he was an even better person. Still the thought of getting involved with her partner in any other capacity other than a professional one, well it went against everything she had believed in...up to this point.

Sarah knew she shouldn't even be considering it, what she should be doing was sleeping and when morning comes she should pretend as if nothing happened and if Chuck brought up the almost kiss...oh god that kiss...she _should _ lie like the spy she was trained to be.

But the irrational high school girl who would have given up her left arm to be with someone like Chuck before she joined the agency screamed in protest.

The steamy dreams she had been having about Chuck since she had met him, the spark of heat that spread across her body when they touched, and the obvious chemistry that was between them when they talked.

It was enough for that girl inside Sarah to hope for something more between her and Chuck. To have something to think about, to care about other than the next mission. She was torn and just didn't know what to do.

It was obvious even to herself that there was something between them, some kind of chemistry that she couldn't remember ever sharing with anyone else. But could she use that connection to justify trying to start something more, something deeper with Chuck. She desperately wanted to but her rational mind could only give her reasons why it couldn't work.

Her biggest fear of all was that she was the only one having these kinds of thoughts and that Chuck even though he had proved he wasn't like other agents or men in general, didn't want her the way Sarah's own heart seemed to be telling her she wanted him.

That entire night Sarah's head was at war with her heart, making endless arguments of why things couldn't and shouldn't work in anything more than a professional relationship as opposed to the glorious and passionate mess they could make as a intimate couple.

Falling into a fitful sleep Sarah grabbed hold of whatever confidence she had and decided that she would do her best to talk to Chuck in the morning. Swallowing her fear she would confront him about the kiss and let the cards fall wherever they may.

* * *

**A couple of days later – Day of the meeting**

First came confusion, then came frustration, a nice long bout of anger which she had worked off on the punching bag and finally the Walker brand of determination.

The morning after the kiss it took Sarah longer than usual to drag herself out of the bed, perhaps because of how long it took her to sleep or just simple nerves; she didn't know. When she saw Chuck for the first time that morning the heat rose in her cheeks and she spent the next 20 minutes of his company trying to get her voice back.

When she could finally talk again they spent the next couple of hours in awkward conversation over coffee. It took a couple of hours but she finally worked up the nerve to bring up the previous night.

"_Nice coffee don't you think?" _

"_Uh..yea its great...um Chuck?" _

"_Yea?" _

"_Listen...about last night, I was thin..." She never got to finish as Chuck darted out of his seat and was moving back into the kitchenette and away from the table where they had been enjoying breakfast. _

"_Right last night, um I just realised that we never told Graham that we got a contact for Fulcrum and the upcoming mission...So yea I'm going to do that now and you just sit there and enjoy that coffee" And with that he was out the door before she could utter a word in protest. _

_It didn't take a trained spy to realise that he had just given her the brush off , but she decided to put it down to him being unprepared for that conversation and left it alone. Deciding now that he knew she wanted to talk she would simply wait for him to be ready and in the meantime enjoy her coffee._

And that was a great plan Sarah thought, but apparently Chuck had different ideas because when he finally dragged himself back into their hotel room he just went about his day like normal as if they had nothing to discuss. This is where her confusion came in to play, and she couldn't figure out why he wasn't trying to talk to her about things.

Next came the frustration. The pattern seemed to continue as whenever Sarah attempted to bring up anything about that night, he would find something that still needed to be done or even simply something to steer the conversation away from the kiss. She reluctantly admitted that diverting her was rather impressive but frustrating all the same.

The anger was soon to follow though. Another day had gone by and still Chuck had refused to stay in a room with her for any extended period of time, and she was starting to get angry that not only could she not talk to him but she was also missing the time they usually spent together since they had became partners. To avoid any damage that could effect the mission or to ruin that cute face of his, Sarah took her boiling rage of emotions and unleashed them on the punching bag at the hotel's gym.

Sarah's fury seemed enough to repel the usually large number of guys who couldn't wait to flirt with her after seeing her body in a sports bra and tight shorts, good for them because she couldn't be confident she wouldn't break the first person who spoke to her while she was in that mindset.

And it wasn't until this morning, the day of the meeting did her determination kick in. That kind of determination that got her to where she was today from being a con-man's assistant and daughter to being the top female agent in the CIA. When she woke up this morning Sarah had decided that by the end of the day one way or another her and Chuck were going to talk about their thing under the cover thing even it meant she had to resort to locking him in a room with the only way out being to go through her.

And considering the lingering anger flowing through her veins and nesting in her gut, she felt like she could take on the entire agency to get the answer's she wanted.

"Sarah?" What are you doing?"

She was brought roughly out of her reverie by Chuck's voice calling to her. Because they still had a mission to do Sarah had reined back her emotions and decided that she would be Sarah Walker the spy, at least until the mission was over and then she would begin Chuck's interrogation. He didn't want to play nice and talk that's fine, he just better not complain when she's forced to the point where truth serum enters the playing field.

"Nothing I'm just keeping a look out for those Fulcrum agents" Currently Sarah and Chuck found themselves sitting inside a black sedan at some typically dark alley waiting for the Fulcrum operatives to show up and begin the meeting.

Keeping to their cover both of them were wearing business suits with Sarah holding onto the briefcase with a small amount of genuine narcotics inside, Graham had managed to score them a decent amount but it only covered about half of what they promised they would provide to Fulcrum. And it all sat in the trunk of their car. The rest of it they faked with some baking powder and the like. Over all they had six cases of narcotics 3 real 3 fake. It didn't matter too much since they should only be testing the small amount Sarah had in her briefcase as a sample. Well that was the plan anyway.

Before Chuck could call her out on her weird behaviour a black hummer pulled into the alleyway and parked in front of their own vehicle. Chuck flashing Sarah a quick wink got out of the car first already playing the part of Charlie Anderson.

It didn't take long for the goons to get out of their own car and make their way over to Chuck. Sarah counted five thugs in total, one in the driver's seat and four making their way over to her partner.

From her view inside their car she could see Chuck talking to one of the men, everything seemed to be going alright so far. They had hoped that Chuck would be able to convince the agents to take both of them to where ever they were conducting their business from, and once there she and him would be able to find some valuable intel on Fulcrum. If he couldn't he was to place a tracking device on one of them and they would have to tail the agents back to base and the infiltrate as fast as they could before Fulcrum discovered the device.

Surprisingly it didn't take long for Chuck to walk back to the car and climb back in with her. Without saying anything he started the car and waited for the Fulcrum agents to get back to their Hummer before following them out of the alley and into traffic.

After about five minutes of driving Chuck began to talk, "Sarah I don't like this, some thing's wrong"

"What's up? This was the ideal plan right, get them to take us back to their hideout"

"Yea I know but to be honest I didn't even get the chance to say anything about their lab or meeting their boss, they invited us. They want us all to celebrate a successful deal they said." He sighed heavily before following the agents into a more rural area out and away from the city, "It's just too easy if you ask me"

Sarah wanted to curse, she had to agree with Chuck it sounded like a trap. She may not of been able to overhear the meeting they had, but from what he was telling her if it had been Sarah making the deal she would have come to the exact same conclusion.

"Do you think they've made us as CIA" Sarah pulled a gun from the glove compartment and checked the clip before pulling the slide back and flipping off the safety. She already knew it was loaded but it helped to get her in the mindset of a potential fire fight.

"No idea, Graham said he would do his best to make sure that only his most trusted people were aware of our request for the drugs, if they know were CIA then things inside the agency may be worse than we suspected ". Out of the corner of her eye Sarah could see him take one hand off the wheel and tap the left side of his chest. More than likely confirming his gun was in its holster and ready, much like she was doing in her opinion.

"Either way they are probably going to try and kill us"

"I suppose we could follow them and pull out as soon as we confirm its location, try and organise a strike team?" Sarah suggested it but even she knew it wouldn't work, they were on their own.

"We cant take the risk if we pull out now, this lab is going to go to ground and we'll lose one of our last leads. We cant stop until we get at least something to point us to the right direction."

The Fulcrum car pulled into a road covered by dense forest, it would be almost impossible to find at night if you didn't already know it was there. Chuck followed the Hummer but slowed down as they started to make their way along the trail.

"Listen I know what I just said, but obviously I'm not going to force you to do this. There's always a chance we could die during a mission, but this is different. This facility of theirs could be filled with agents and there's only two of us, our chances aren't looking good Sarah."

Sarah was a little touched that Chuck would be willing to give up what he clearly considered his moral obligation to stop these guys, just because she may decide she didn't want to die over this. She wasn't entirely sure she could say the same thing about herself, if she had another partner she very well might have dragged them in with her, just to make sure that they didn't tip of Fulcrum. No matter how scared her partner may have been.

"Speak for yourself Chuck I'm ready to get in there" She threw him a cheeky smirk before tucking her gun into her own holster under her jacket.

"What kind of guy would I be if I let a beautiful woman like you go all alone into a place like...that." Chuck couldn't have possibly timed that better, because as soon as he was finished talking the two cars emerged from the cover of the trees. Before them was what appeared to be an old abandoned steel works facility of some kind. If she had to guess Sarah thought Fulcrum had converted the facility to suite their means.

Still driving the Fulcrum hummer only stopped when it reached a flight of stairs that led up into a network of metal platforms. When the agents got out of their vehicle Chuck and Sarah followed suite and began to follow them on foot.

Leading them up the staircase, the agent's took them across the platforms for a few minutes before walking through a door and into a large lab facility. They continued to walk across the platforms monitoring the lab works that they passed by, Sarah wasn't DEA like Carina was but even she could tell without out a doubt that it was drug based.

Before long they started to descend down another set of stairs into the mess of scientists and drugs and they kept going until they came before an oak desk that looked out of place before all the futuristic lab equipment. The man sitting behind the desk across from them looked average enough. Sarah however had seen her fair share of crazies in her life even before she joined the CIA, and this man was clearly certifiable and it was barely being contained by whatever image he was trying to present to them.

"How nice to see such a young couple, happy in love and going into business together. My name is Chris Johnson and I'm the man you will be doing business with tonight." The man stood up from his desk and made his way to its corner and started pouring himself a scotch from his modest collection.

"Would you like a drink before we start talking shop?"

Agents were taught that so long as you could get away with it and not arouse suspicion, you were never to take a personal drink with a mark. Although training or no she would never drink something this guy gave her, there was something about him that just seemed wrong, bad even.

"No thank you, as you can understand were a little nervous and we would like to get the dealings over and done with as soon as possible."

"Shame I always find a stiff drink makes things like this go a lot smoother... So I'm told your able to supply us with our substantial 'order' pfft" He supplied his own air quotes for the word order, and to Sarah the guy looked like he had just came up with the greatest joke of all time. Johnson was seconds away from breaking down into laughter before he suddenly sobered and retook his seat in the plush chair behind his desk.

"Personally I find this great news...but what kind of dealer would I be if I didn't ask for a sample of your 'product'" Johnson once again threw up his air quotes and she was sure she wasn't alone when she decided that the joke had gotten old. Even his subordinates who watched in, spread throughout the lab behind them seemed to be resisting the desire to roll their eyes at their bosses antics.

Thankfully Chuck decided to but in before the Fulcrum leader could decided that he wanted to have another giggle at his own jokes.

"Yes of course we were expecting as much, my lovely wife has it inside the briefcase she's holding"

Johnson looked generally surprised by this and exaggeratedly leaned over his desk towards Chuck and started speaking in what she was sure she thought he believed was a hush whisper, " You let the woman carry something so important" Working in some of the darker places in the world it wasn't surprising to see some men who still thought of woman as less competent than males, but it didn't stop the desire to punch Johnson's fat, bald little face in.

"With all due respect Mr Johnson, there's not a safer place I can think of than with my wife, and certainly no other person carries my trust as she does"

Agent Walker would need to remind Agent Carmichael after the op was over that she was an agent and that not only could she handle some cheap little opinions from someone like this man, but also that risking antagonising their mark over something so small would only bring unnecessary risk to their mission.

But Sarah Walker felt a small wall crumble at his chivalry to defend her despite the risks. That small desire to kiss him that she had been feeling since the shrimp incident, or maybe even before that, returned full force. Knowing she couldn't do that mission or no she settled for sending him a small smile in thanks hoping that he would pick up on how much gratitude was truly contained within that smile

"Oh I get it! Cant say anything in-front of the missus don't worry I understand I know exxaccctllyyy what you mean (wink) (wink)" This time he didn't give them his good old air quotes instead the psychopath openly said wink wink to Chuck whilst blinking both of his eyes enthusiastically. If she thought she was freaked out she had no idea that Chuck was currently reminded of his short stint at the Burbank Buymore for a summer job where he met a very very odd man called Jeff and was at that very moment tempted to ask Johnson if they were related in some way.

"Um well yes uh Sarah could you hand him the sample we brought" Wasting no time rolled through the pin lock on the briefcase and pulled out the small brick of narcotics, she held it in her hand just a moment before holding it out to the man across from them. Instead of Johnson however one of his subordinates intercepted the brick with a quick nod to her before walking away and taking it towards the lab area behind them.

It seemed for the moment their business was finished whilst they checked out the validity of the narcotics they handed over as Johnson immediately began spinning in his chair like a five year old on a sugar rush equipped with all the weees and whooshes you would expect from a child.

Sarah took the time to scout out possible escape routes and cover zones they could use if things turned ugly. This was the first time they had been able to get inside an active Fulcrum base since the whole thing began and it was far more security heavy than they would have expected from a covert and rouge operation.

She couldn't see anyway they could capture Johnson and take him away for interrogation without being involved in a shoot-out , and personally she wouldn't feel confident in the quality of the information they could extract from the loon. There was always a problem when torturing the crazies, sometimes they would enjoy the pain and even when the information an agent could extract was wrong the victim would probably believe what they were saying was right.

If either Chuck or herself could pull away from the meeting and try and log on to one of their computers perhaps they could get some useful files on Fulcrum. But judging by Johnson's non existent attention span it seems it wouldn't be long before he wanted to know where either Chuck or Sarah had gotten to.

Sadly before she could come up with a plan the same tech who had taken the sample for testing returned and nodded some kind of conformation to his boss. With that Johnson quickly stopped his strange spinning and returned to addressing the Anderson's again.

"Well good news, the sample you provided was just what we were looking for congratulations!" Nope the spinning wasn't over this time when he span in his chair it came with jazz hands as he shouted out his congratulations. However if Sarah hadn't been looking for it she would have missed it, Johnson's eyes had shot towards the walk ways and it looked like the guards on the platforms had started to move a little closer looking down into the meeting.

She wasn't sure but his insane display might have been some kind of signal to his men. If that was the case they were at a disadvantage with being in such an open space and his men having the high ground. Looking to Chuck she was glad to see that her partner was that little bit more tense, taking that as a sign that he had noticed Sarah let Chuck continue with the meeting whilst she attempted to plan an out if things went the way she thought it would .

"Well although we knew it would check out, I'm glad to see you approve. So now that were in business you can send payment to our account in the caymans, aren't those offshore accounts so delightfully difficult to trace" Chuck said with a smile and false glee in his voice.

While they were talking Sarah got up and walked towards the desk corner where Johnson's scotch sat, grabbing the neck of the bottle and picking up a glass she looked towards the Fulcrum leader with a pointed look and mouthed "as congratulations" as expected he signalled his ok with a wave of his hand before once again facing Chuck whilst Sarah carried on with pouring the drink.

"Yes they are fun little things, so before we send payment Mr Anderson I'd just like to check that the rest of my order would be inside of your vehicle outside?." Another slight hand movement was made by Johnson and Sarah was certain now that he was signalling to his men. He was onto them.

"Yes but I think I should tell you that we have wired our car with explosives which I will not disarm until you make the payment." Sarah resisted the urge to twist her head towards Chuck in surprise like a rookie agent. He must be improvising she thought, as Sarah took her seat next to Chuck scotch in hand.

"Oh well aren't you a careful man, well I suppose there's no harm in payment first, after all if the drugs aren't there its not like your going to be able to leave." With that Sarah understood what Chuck was doing, things were going to go bad fast and there was no way that they were walking away with any information today but if Johnson makes the payment they will be able to trace the account back to other Fulcrum operations in the US.

Johnson rattled an account number whilst performing one last spin in his chair something she was certain was another signal to his men, and Chuck was typing the number into his Iphone. Before long there was a small beep coming from Chuck's phone and he smiled in her direction.

"Well Mr Johnson it seems that your purchase is complete, let me just disarm those pesky explosives for you, shall I"

It was like some sort of international signal for a shoot out to start Chuck looked towards her whilst reaching into his suit jacket and Johnson looked towards his guards, probably letting them know that as soon as Chuck disarms the bomb they were to unleash their clips into the couple. Luckily Chuck's signal was done first and Sarah threw the scotch she had poured across the desk and at Johnson's face whilst her partner instead of reaching for any kind of explosive device instead reach for his pistol and began laying covering fire into the above walkway.

Taken by surprise the guards were temporarily forced to pull away from the rail and were unable to fire down accurate shots at Chuck and Sarah. During the shooting Sarah pulled the temporarily blinded Johnson from behind his desk in an arm hold and threw him towards the lab area behind Chuck to prevent the guards on the floor from being able to fire at them too.

Once Johnson was stumbling into the lab area from Sarah's throw she pulled out her own pistol and kicked open one of the side doors in Johnson's little office area. Chuck already catching on stopped firing and ran into the room quickly followed by Sarah who bolted it shut behind her by grabbing an emergency fire axe of the wall and propping it up against the handle.

Now in an unfamiliar area Sarah looked around trying to find out where they had just thrown themselves into, and praying that she hadn't just trapped them. Scanning the room Sarah deduced that it must have been the facility's office area as there were tables with computers and files spread out everywhere.

"Ok Chuck we don't have long before they get through that door, jump on one of these terminals and see if you can find anything connected with Fulcrum while I look for a way out." Sarah knew it was a long shot, the computers were probably years old and were simply left here from when the facility had been a legitimate company. She doubt they would be secure or fast enough for Fulcrum standards and probably brought their own equipment when they arrived.

Surprised that Chuck wasn't complaining about her wasting his time she set about her own task. The windows spread throughout the area they had found themselves in were covered in some kind of steel mesh, just looking at them she knew Sarah knew she would need a lot more than a chair to break through it.

For whatever reason no fire door was installed in the office and the only other door she could see was the one that had a bunch of mindless goons on the other side of it with a nice shiny collection of weaponry they wanted to show the two spies.

If Sarah was being honest with herself she wasn't liking their odds, it was pretty clear that Fulcrum had planned this ambush from the get go. With no escape she knew that there was no they could fight their way out with the basic weapon supplies they were carrying.

Before her thoughts could get any darker Chuck's reassuring voice reached her ears although she was surprised to find it sounded a little ragged, maybe she wasn't the only one who had been starting to panic after all, " Sarah the fire extinguisher..." That was all she needed to know before Sarah ran over to the wall and pulled the extinguisher from its place. Carrying it over to the windows she tied it to the mesh on the windows using the nozzle of the extinguisher. Moving behind one of the desks she over turned it and aimed the muzzle over the table towards her target.

The shot reverberated around the office more so than the blast from the extinguisher when the bullet pierced its shell. It was hardly much of a bang considering the lack of flammable material but concussive force from the pressurised container was enough to dislodge the steel mesh from the wall surrounding the window.

Wasting no time as the Fulcrum agents seemed to redouble their efforts to getting through the door Sarah ran back to the window picked up one of the nearby chairs and began beating on the wall the mesh was attached to trying to remove it entirely. It wasn't long before Sarah was pulling it away from the wall and throwing her chair battering ram through the now unprotected window.

The satisfying smash of the window brought back hope for their escape, looking through the window she judged the distance to the ground below them. It was a fair drop but they were slightly below the second floor of the large facility and she knew that both her and Chuck would make it without any real injury.

Once they were outside their survival training would come in pretty handy as Fulcrum wouldn't be far behind, still they had the night on their side and with the large amount of narcotics in the facility that would confuse them she had doubts that they would have dogs to track them into the forest surrounding the road they had come through.

Turning around new plan in mind Sarah's blood ran cold at the sight of Chuck, he was hunched over the computer desk a sheen of sweat covering his boyish features and his skin was pale compared to his usual slightly tanned complexion he had picked up during their recent excursions across the sunnier side of Europe.

The thing that scared her the most however was the scarlet drops that slipped through the cracks of his fingers as he clutched his hand to his side. For the umpteenth time tonight she ran the distance of the office over to Chuck and began to examine his side at the same time looking towards the door making sure that no Fulcrum agents had managed to break through while she was distracted.

"Chuck what happened? When?" She knew she didn't need to ask, it must have happened whilst he was providing them covering fire. Pushing aside her anger towards Chuck for not telling her he was injured she returned to re-examine his wound. Despite the blood it looked pretty superficial and so long as he could get some basic medical attention in the next few hours he would be alright.

"Come on Carmichael I heard you were pretty good, don't tell me you couldn't shoot the guy before he shot you" She wasn't sure why she was trying to joke with him at a time like this, an injured partner and enemy agents trying to kill them. No Sarah did know she thought she would feel better if she could catch a glimpse of the fun loving Chuck right now.

The irrational fear she was feeling over a stupid superficial wound was not only confusing but it was distracting. But that cold dread that covered her body in goosebumps refused to leave despite her mind telling her that it wasn't going to kill him.

"Heh Don't back seat shoot for me Walker, I simply got shot purely for dramatic impact" The light in his eyes was still shining and for a moment she almost believed that he couldn't be killed. The banging on the door however had other plans and brought her back to reality.

"Well come on hero, its time we make our grand exit." Hooking his arm over her shoulder she made to drag him over the window before she felt his warm hand on the arch of her back before it pushed her forward ahead of Chuck.

"Carmi...?"

"Sarah, I'm not sure how high that drop is exactly but I'm sure when you came up with your great escape you didn't imagine it with a wounded man" He gave her a charming smile and at the same time destroyed her hopes, " Whisking away from the dragons den with a blonde beauty on my arm certainly sounds like fun, but Sarah I cant make that jump, and as much as I loath to admit I'd slow you down out there speedy. One of us getting caught is better than both."

Already shaking her head ready to refute his idea of leaving without him Chuck silenced her with by placing a hand on her forearm. She'd been shut up before with those warm shocks she got from his skin whenever Chuck touched her, this time it was that warm slick feeling that you felt when blood covered your skin. She'd felt that feeling probably a hundred times out in the field, from her own blood and the blood of allies and friends she had lost, but this was the first time she thought that it might actually make her throw up.

"Sarah you have to go now"

"Chuck I'm not going to leave you here on your own. If they don't kill you when they get through that door you know what Fulcrum's going to do you." Torture was also something every spy was familiar with, but it was also something you avoided at all costs...everyone breaks, sooner or later they break and then their killed.

"How is it going to be any better if you stay here Sarah, your not an amateur you already know we cant out gun them from our position. Sarah don't forget no one knows were here if neither of us gets out not only will no one find us, but Fulcrum will win. Graham's hands are tied he doesn't have enough people he can trust to take on Fulcrum, I need you to leave."

"You asking too much, your asking me to let you die!"

"Please if you haven't noticed yet I'm a little too stubborn to die that easily. Come back with the cavalry and I'll be here waiting...for you." Chuck seemed to clutch at his side harder and Sarah could see that he was getting worse the more he talked.

"Chuck you asshole you cant te..."Damn him! She didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He was kissing her and even those warm feelings his lips brought her couldn't hide the dread she felt when she thought that it could be the last time he ever would kiss her like that. She could taste her silent tears on their lips as the fell own her face and intermingled in their kiss.

For someone she couldn't stand most of the time the thought of leaving him to a fate worse than death hurt her more than it should, it was almost soul destroying. Although thinking back every fight she'd either started or escalated between them had been because she simply could understand what made Charles Carmichael so...well Chuck.

He was different and scary and someone she so desperately wanted to figure out and spend time with. And the fact that she was only figuring this out now when she might never see him alive again only added to the depressive feeling that clung to her heart like a vice.

"I've been avoiding you...since well that kiss. I'm sorry I know we need to talk about it, talk about us." The door holding back the Fulcrum agent seemed to bend at the top corner and begin to come forward into the room they were standing in, "Buuuuut since were about to have a lot of company your just gonna have to make sure you save my skinny ass.

Sarah decided he was an asshole right then and there. You cant dangle something like that in front of a girl when there's a chance she's never gonna see him again. Still this jack ass was her partner and fast becoming something more in her heart and one way or another she was gonna save him.

"Six hours! Six hours its the absolute maximum time I'm gonna need to get Graham to get a task force big enough over here. Not only are you going to have to survive but you have to make sure that they don't move facilities or at the very least find a way so we can track you." Sarah was holding his cheeks tightly and staring deep into his eyes as if she could hypnotise him into doing everything she wanted, little did Sarah know she probably could.

"Don't think you can get away from me Chuck, I want that conversation. If you die I will bring you back as many times as it takes to get it from you, don't think that I wont. Do you understand!"

That smile was devastating as it lit up his face despite his pain, "Crystal ma'am now uh don't you have a escape you should be involved in" Feeling those soft lips atop her head she turned and sprinted towards the window just as she felt the crash of the door give away. Too afraid to look back, not for her but for him, she launched herself out the window and dropped the distance to the fast approaching ground. Despite the roll she made to cushion the impact she could feel her body wine and protest at the force of the fall.

Gunfire behind her and tears in her eyes Sarah stole into the dark bush with the most important mission of her life in the forefront of her mind.

Capture Charles Carmichael alive.

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**So yea I'm bad, but I'm not gonna leave you on a cliffie like that for long don't worry about it. Hope you liked it I'm quite fond of this chapter although I will admit it did feel quite rough to write, if that even makes any sense. **

**So um yah if you enjoyed it I encourage you to leave me a review so that it may encourage me to write. Criticism is welcomed so long as its constructive, well aware of my faults in grammar and the like believe me but I'm sure there are other areas that could be pointed out to me. **

**In the event you skipped my previous rants heres the clip notes version. Not blaming you, your probably the smartest person here if you did. **

**Dont kill me. New chapter tomorrow. Birthday XD. Review (please). **


	13. Sugar Bear & The Giant Blonde Shemale

CHUCK VS THE NEW PARTNER

"Sugar Bear & The Giant Blonde She-male"

**Soooo almost slipped my mind to post this lol But hey I remembered so we'll speak no more about it. **

**First off I want to openly announce my displeasure at Esardi, I thought I covered all of my bases but Es somehow still managed to find a way to kill me. I'm still coming to grips with my almost death otherwise I'd congratulate you on finding a loophole lolz.**

**Anywho here goes I'm giving you the one thing that is probably keeping me alive at the moment, Chapter 13. I hope it doesn't come across that Sarah's thoughts are just repeats of the last chapter, I wanted to express how difficult something so new was to her and I'm a little worried it might seem like I keep singing the same damn tune.**

**P.S I dont always remember my titles being askew like they are above at the moment, they are supposed to be centred. Have they always done that or is it because of a recent update or something?**

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**Chuck POV**

**Fulcrum Base **

With Sarah now out of intimidate danger Chuck felt the fear drain out of his body and he fell easily into his Charles Carmichael persona. Crouching behind the desk Sarah had overturned earlier Chuck began to fire into the Fulcrum spies that had bottlenecked themselves trying to get through the door towards him.

By the end of his first clip he had confirmed that he'd killed at least five enemies and probably injured another two.

Reloading another magazine into the gun Chuck peeked over his makeshift cover to see the remaining agents move into their own cover using the walls of the door, this included the loud-mouthed Johnson wielding from what he could tell with a brief glance, a pretty big assault rifle.

Taking advantage of the brief cease fire Chuck reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his Iphone, "Not only does this feel morally wrong to my inner nerd but I think in the event I live Graham might just kill me anyway." With no time to remove the casing Chuck hammered the Iphone with the butt of his pistol until he heard the sickening crunch of crushed technology. Sifting through the pieces of his new and now destroyed phone he found what he was looking for, the independently powered GPS tracking device that thankfully was no bigger than a penny.

Knowing he could only hold off Fulcrum for so long before they either killed him of flooded the room with flash bangs he did the only thing he could and swallowed the device so that hopefully at least until his next bowel movement the CIA could track him. Despite his predicament couldn't help but snicker over the idea and knew that Morgan would have loved it.

"To all CIA scum surrender and I promise to be gentle when I shove that toy pistol of yours down ya throat." Johnson yelled out almost hysterically into the room.

"Um no CIA here maybe you should try the next office over." Chuck yelled back

"Are you lying to me?" Chuck almost poked his head over his cover to see if Johnson was being serious, the guy really was a nut-job.

"No no would I lie to you?"

"Meh even my own mother lied to me, that's why I shot her in the head. Listen up curly time come out of your hidey hole in there so I can get back to something more important...and fun."

"Sure sure we could do that or you could surrender and I promise you'll get a nice view in whatever dirt hole they call a prison you end up at, or perhaps in your case the insane asylum and a lovely assortment of colourful pills you can take" Chuck knew that getting killed now meant nothing but getting captured meant being tortured from the second they had him disarmed. The longer he could keep the Fulcrum leader talking the less time they had to move locations or torture him, which sounded like the better option to him.

"As nice as that sounds I'm gonna go with option B" Hearing some shuffling back towards the door behind his cover, Chuck held his arm over cover and started laying down suppressive fire in Fulcrum's direction.

"Hey hey what the hell are you doing you lunatic you could have hit me!" More shuffling behind him, peeking over his cover to see what he was doing, the arm of Johnson was holding the corpse of a Fulcrum agent by the scruff of his neck,"Oh my God you hit Lewis, what is wrong with you he had a wife and children" Chuck rolled his eyes and ducked back behind his cover once again, "Well I suppose he did cheat on her repeatedly and abuse his kids, but still man he was my new coffee gopher after the last one suffered an unfortunate accident."

Firing a few more shots behind cover Chuck mentally did a quick count of his remaining ammunition whilst he replaced the now spent clip. Sadly this was supposed to be an undercover mission with the key being stealth, not expecting to get into a full on gun fight against the entire facility he was already down to his last clip.

"Ok I can see your getting bored, as it happens so am I so lets try this approach..." Chuck heard that familiar clank of a small metal object hitting the ground and rolling across the floor in his direction. Clear it was either a flash bang or the homicidal leader was throwing live grenades inside a highly flammable narcotics facility Chuck covered his ears and closed his eyes doing the best he could to block the effects of the ensuing flash before it could go off.

Right on cue Chuck's head erupted in a flash of light and noise. Opening his eyes the world seemed to turn in on itself as everything seemed to spin in his vision.

With his depth perception compromised Chuck stayed crouched behind the table and tried to wait off the effect of the flash even as he could feel the agents closing in on his position.

Before he could fully recover the clasp of someone's hand surrounded his left shoulder. Luckily even without his vision Chuck's training kicked in and he was already snapping the wrist of who touched him whilst simultaneously spinning towards his opponent, rising to his feet and crushing their wind pipe with a well placed punch.

Squinting through his eyes Chuck couldn't even make out where the other agents where in the office space. Holding his position already aware he was completely exposed he waited for someone to try and restrain him again knowing he could do no more in his current predicament.

Instead of a hand or the grip of arms trying to restrain him someone punched him in the face accompanied by a maniacal laugh. Falling to the ground Chuck tried to get back his footing but before he could the butt of a rifle followed the punch to his face and the world blackened for Chuck as his head fell back to the floor.

"Alright worms I want stretch here in a truck and on his way to 'Site Two' And can someone please blow this shit hole up I'd rather not have the CIA sniffing through my underwear draw trying to find out where we've gone." Johnson skipped out of the room happy with a new victim to play with. It was unfortunate that the bitch got away but that wasn't a problem he only needed one. Once he found out everything the CIA knew about Fulcrum from his new prisoner, the organisation would dispose of whoever knew about them and they could resume operations in peace once again.

* * *

**Sarah POV **

**CIA Substation **

Sarah knew she had to be patient and that the CIA was never going to let her take a task force against some unknown facility until they knew all the facts. Still sitting around whilst her superiors made their decision all the while knowing that Chuck was on his own having god knows what done to him it was a torture in and of itself.

That man called Johnson, beneath his insanity there was one hell of a cruel streak running through him and she had no doubt he would enjoy whatever he did to Chuck.

This wasn't the first time one of her partners had been captured, Sarah got a lot of the most dangerous assignments and not all of her partners could keep up with her, sometimes they got themselves caught despite her attempts to babysit them. Most of the time they got back alive and after some therapy they were allowed back into the field, not with Sarah of course the old Agent Walker would never allow some rookie who got captured to compromise her mission again, but they got to keep their careers with a partner that was more their speed.

But she still remembered that one time they didn't come back, she couldn't remember the guy's face or name no after time that had started to fade. His pieces, that she remembered when they finally found where he was being held the CIA concluded that he had broken under the torture and was consequently killed when he was of no use. From the evidence present it seems they tied his arms and legs to separate cars and drove in opposite directions until his body was torn apart.

That was early on in her career, not even two years after finishing her training. But she was cold even back then, she didn't attend his funeral and was on a new mission with a new partner the very next day. She knew she forced her partners to meet a difficult standard but she held herself with an even higher one, that determination kept her going even when things got difficult

Still it didn't help her now, no matter how determined she was to convince herself she wasn't scared. Just the thought that something similar could happen to Chuck sent the most mortifying feelings to run through her entire body. Despite their arguing and the confusing feelings that made her want to jump his bones at every opportunity Sarah truly believed the stories spread about Carmichael. Chuck really was the best the agency had.

She wanted him as her partner, she wanted him to stay with her, she wanted him. He was not only someone who could keep up with the hard demands she placed on herself everyone around her, but he humanised her. A once terrifying idea but since Chuck and her started working together feelings, feelings long buried started to surface and it shocked her how much she was enjoying the sensation. What shocked he more was that she could still do her job despite the tornado of emotions that flowed through her body when they were together.

She had seen partners out in the field before who shared a bed even if only casually. Even when they had no feelings for each other she could see little mistakes that developed in their spy-craft because of their intimate relationship. Unacceptable in her mind once was now...well she didn't know, Chuck changed things even if he didn't know it.

That conversation she was owed, it would change things. The kiss she was going to pull Chuck into when she found him alive was going to change things. The slap she was going to give him after her kiss probably wasn't going to change things.

The ice cold black coffee that she had been staring into since she had entered the conference room 45 minutes ago almost fell from her grip when the monitors across from her came to light with a faint buzz. Both the faces on the monitor were familiar to her one with a crisp suit the other with a spotless and standard uniform.

Graham who was both hers and Chuck's recruiter was on the left side of the screen looking at her with as much sympathy as he was allowed to display given his position.

And General Diane Beckman who as usual did not only look at her with a disapproving glare but with an anger which Sarah was sure she was feeling through the screen.

Surprised to be in conference with both the Director of the CIA but also the General in charge of NSA operations, Sarah attempted to regain the composure back in her own head by raising slowly from her chair and assumed a respectful stance for her superiors with all the grace Agent Sarah Walker was known for.

"Sir, Ma'am"

Getting the ball rolling Graham shuffled some papers on his desk before addressing his operative, "Agent Walker I'm happy to see you made it out of enemy hands relatively unharmed, I've read your reports on the events with Fulcrum and your partner and given the way things stand I've decided it would be in the operation's best interest to read the NSA into our situation.

"Yes thank you Director although I cant deny that I'm unhappy we're only now being informed of this threat" Sarah was sure the General wanted to say a lot more than she was upset at being kept in the dark, but she assumed they were keeping up the charade of civility for her benefit.

"I apologize General but as you can see from the information that Agents Carmichael & Walker have gathered since they began this operation, Fulcrum have infiltrated deeper than we can know into various agencies. Not knowing who to trust means that the only way to combat this organisation is to do so with a small specialised attack group." Being able to justify his actions didn't seem to drain the anger from Beckman's face only intensify it, so before they could get into a pissing match Sarah decided to add her two cents and get the meeting back on track.

"Sir about Chu...Agent Carmichael, when can I leave to retrieve him." If it was just Graham Sarah was sure she would already be on her way to rescuing Chuck, but she had no idea what Beckman's stance was on this whole situation. Still so long as she hid her personal feelings for him and kept herself in check she was certain she could show how indispensable Chuck was in this war and that the General would have no choice but to retrieve him.

"Yes well Agent as you know considering the enemy we face, trusted agents such as Carmichael are going to be needed, not to mention that he his one of my own." Beckman took that moment to clear her throat and Sarah didn't miss the slight dirty glare he sent her in return as he continued talking to Sarah.

"That being said Walker this is now a joint operation between the CIA & NSA you will retrieve him with one of the General's agents and so long as Carmichael is able to continue field operations this agent shall stay with your team during the fight with Fulcrum.

"Is that wise? no disrespect Ma'am but we have no idea of the true reach Fulcrum has right now, a larger force and more people in the know could compromise the security of the OP."

The General seemed to bristle at the insinuation that her precious NSA could be infested with rouge agents, but she seemed to power through, "I understand your concerns agent, but I can personally vouch for Major Casey's loyalty to his country"

The twitch above Sarah's eye was the only indication that she had a reaction to the identity of her new team mate, "Is the major really the best choice for this kind of operation, there's no doubt Casey is an effective agent but well subtlety isn't his strongest point."

"Agent Walker, Major Casey has his preferred methods of combat but he knows how to stay invisible when he needs to be. Besides so far your operation has only garnered minor information at best on Fulcrum perhaps a more direct approach could work better."

It was like being partnered with Chuck all over again, not happy with her new partner and having no choice but to accept it. The only problem was Casey couldn't make her heart beat so hard that it hurt with his kind words and boyish smile, not that Casey had any kind words to give anyway.

"When will the Major arrive?" If she had to work with him that's fine but if she had to wait whilst Chuck was likely being tortured to death well there would be blood.

"Anxious to see me Walker?" A gruff voice spoke up from behind her and she didn't need to turn around to know who it was.

"Casey good to see you again" pulling back a curt reply, the less resistance she got from the Casey now the better for Chuck in the long run.

"Wish I could say the same skirt" Casey and her never did get along to well in their brief encounters with each other out in the field.

"Enough, Casey Walker we've been tracing Carmichael from the GPS inside his phone and we know his location. It moved not long after Walker escaped and stopped inside a warehouse district."Chuck would have laughed about bad guys and their love of warehouses but she decided not to voice that observation.

"You'll both be taking a joint lead and taking a team into extract him. They have not been given details of Carmichael identity of the group they will be fighting against, its going to stay that way."

Casey stepped slightly closer to the monitors so that he was next to Sarah, she observed that he still kept his typical military posture, " Why not just let me lead the team ma'am, I don't have much use for a CIA skirt who's gonna flutter her eyes at the enemy"

Gritting her teeth at Casey's usual digs she replied no longer caring much that her bosses were watching her, "Did you forget our time out in Barcelona Casey? Not still upset are you?"

All she got was a growl from the large Major but before he could get of a comeback Graham decided enough was enough, "Major both you and my agent will be working Together on this op and in the future. If you have a problem well I don't very much care, you requested this assignment so you'll do what we tell you. "

"Of course sir!" Casey stood up a little straighter now suitably chastised, Sarah however was trying not to look at him with shock. _" Why would Casey ask for a assignment one that forces him to play nice with the CIA" _

"Well you have your orders, your to leave as soon as your ready" The General wasted no time in hitting whatever button cancelled the video link to them, Graham sent her a a small smile now that he was no longer in the presence of the General before he too ended the link.

Now Sarah was alone in the office with Casey and to say it was uncomfortable was an understatement. Before Sarah could say much on the matter Casey was already walking towards the door, " Get whatever you need to be ready I'll go prep the team, we leave in two hours"

* * *

**Fulcrum back-up site**

**2 hours and 15 minutes into his torture**

**CHUCK POV**

"Ok while effective...don't you think...this is a little ….*oof*...cliché"

"Oh go ahead and explain why you think so 'Mr. Anderson'"

"My name...is NEO! Oowww ok clearly your not a movie guy" Chuck squirmed in his restraints, "Well its just where's the creativity here? You have me chained up to the ceiling inches from the floor, treating me like a punching bag...*argh*... and from what I can tell you've….brought me to a warehouse. Sorry to tell you its been done before." Chuck waited for his chain to stop spinning before he looked towards Johnson on the far wall, "And word of advice quit it with the air quotes"

Johnson waved off the Fulcrum goon he had laying into Chuck and walked over to him, "Carmichael you make an interesting point and I tell you what, to show my gratitude I'll show you some of my special fun toys"

...

"You know what maybe I was speaking to soon, cliché works for you and I tell you I'm this close to talking no need for you to go to the extra effort of using something special." Chuck did not want to know what this guy considered special.

After they had captured Chuck they must have stitched him up and wrapped his ribs while he was out cold before taking him to a new location and chaining him up. For the first hour after he gained conciseness they worked on his ribs only stopping to restitch the bullet wound when it tore. From what he could tell at least one of his ribs were broken and it was getting hard to breath.

They had just started working on his face when Chuck had interrupted them. His jaw was already aching and making some decent jokes was getting harder. The instructors at the farm hated that habit of his, most agents were taught to keep silent in case you let something slip without meaning too.

Except Chuck never stayed quiet even when he wasn't being tortured so they had to come up with a different method. Embracing his quirk they told him if he was going to talk then he might as well use it to piss the enemy off, if Chuck was lucky they would make a mistake and if he was really lucky they'd accidentally kill him.

It wasn't a great thing to admit but captive agent situations in the real world were never very pretty and had a low success rate. The agency wouldn't even take the risk to rescue you most of the time unless you had something that could compromise them or some other vital information. That's why it was usually better for yourself and your agency if escape was impossible, you died as soon as possible before you could give away information.

Still Chuck trusted Sarah and he knew she would be coming for him. He wasn't sure how he knew with such certainty but there was no doubt that Sarah was coming for him.

Sarah. For the first time since he had met her he was glad for the vivid dreams he suffered whenever he slept. The dreams of the two of them happy and together, because right now she was his happy place. She was keeping him together just by thinking of her beauty and strong personality.

"Well I guess that dopey smile on your face means your ready to get started" Crap! He got distracted and he hadn't even noticed when one of the goons wheeled in a metal tray full of objects he really didn't want to see.

"Well their Shiney"(couldn't resist XD)

"Your damn right their shiney, I made these babies myself pat and pending. The perfect tools to induce pain and suffering, that's the slogan by the way." Johnson pulled a jagged looking knife off the tray.

"Now I'm going to push Delilah here into your shoulder unless you tell me your name, and believe me if you think it hurts going in its nothing to how it going to feel when I pull it out." He slowly lifted the tip and placed the point at his shoulder, "Oh and before I forget that's your real name I want Neo."

Chuck looked around the area he was being kept in as a last ditch attempt before they continued the torture. The walls were brick and dark with no windows to let the light in, a single light pointed directly at chuck from the opposite side of the room was providing light to the room.

With no chance to escape Chuck resigned himself to the pain with a deep sigh, "You know when I booked my room with you, I was promised a view" As expected Johnson didn't much appreciate the joke and began slowly pushing the blade into his shoulder. Chuck did his best not to scream, he bit down on his lip as the blade's jagged edges cut though his flesh while it moved inch by inch inside his shoulder.

"Laugh now funny man. What's that I cant hear you!" Leaning closer to Chuck's face digging the blade farther into his shoulder with his weight, " Is that your name your trying to tell me?"

"Bond, James bond" Struggling to release the grip his teeth had on his lower lip Chuck pulled his face into a smile although it looked more like a grimace, "That work for you?"

"Not funny! I'm going to ask again what's your name?" This time Johnson started pulling the blade back out of his shoulder, the jagged curves of the blade were excruciating.

"Everybody's a critique" Blood started to fall freely from inside Chuck's mouth with the force he had been chewing on his gums trying to avoid the satisfaction it would give his torturer if he screamed for him. The bastard was sick and would only enjoy it.

"Look at you! Your getting me mad I usually enjoy my play sessions, but right now your just being difficult. Come on friends call each other by their first names all the time!"

"You have friends?"

"Course I have friends I'm a charming guy"

"Sure.…..consider me charmed" As the blade was almost out of his shoulder he yanked it out viciously causing blood to fall fast out of his wound and down his side to the floor. The dirty gauze that was wrapped around his side was stained red with his blood. Perhaps he should consider this a blessing in a weird way, there was no way he was going to survive long with this kind of blood loss, still despite his early thoughts he never really did appreciate the give up and die attitude especially knowing that Sarah was looking for him.

"I can tell what your thinking boy, I know it. But don't you worry this isn't my first torture session your gonna live there ain't no way I'm letting you die that easy. We have a bigger blood stock here than an emergency hospital. I'm going t kill you and I'm going to bring you back as many times as it takes till I find out what I want to know...we'll I probably still torture you then but those are details we can work out later."

No witty comeback on his tongue he used what he did have , Chuck spit the blood that had gathered in his mouth towards the face of his enemy. It was petty and childish but hey right now he didn't very much care.

The last thing he saw before the second time he blacked out that night, certainly not the last, was Johnson smiling through the blood on his face before lifting his hand up and driving the knife into the same spot as before. Unprepared for the viciousness of the blow Chuck passed out from the shock and pain.

* * *

**Sarah POV.**

**Air Base Hanger**

**4 Hours after Chuck was captured**

Sarah was busy mentally going over her supplies as Casey briefed with the seal team before them about their target and the enemy. She didn't need to hear this no one here knew better than she did of what they faced or what...who was at stake.

Flashing back to when he had left Sarah alone in the briefing room she let herself cry for the first time since her dad was arrested. During her escape and until a rescue team had been mobilised Sarah had kept a tide lid on her emotions, doing what had to be done to get her partner back. But when she could finally rest for a moment knowing everything was under way to get him back the flood gates opened.

The pure terror that racked her bones as she sobbed on the briefing room floor was crippling. The idea of what that bastard would do to Chuck, what he was doing to Chuck that very second, she'd never wished to trade places with someone else more.

She knew that Chuck had wouldn't break short of a week and that a day's torture wasn't severe by veteran CIA standards. But it was painful so painful, training or no and she shared that pain thinking of what he was forced to go through.

Earlier she told herself she had no idea what it was she felt for Chuck. And she still didn't it wasn't something she could describe even to herself. But it was easy to feel the strength behind those emotions, the desire to spend time with him, to be intimate with him. She usually suppressed these thoughts about Chuck but with her release of her tears so did the walls of her heart.

She cared for Chuck, more so than anyone she ever met. She couldn't give it a name and she didn't know if it could turn into something more, or if it could even be returned by Chuck. If he did or he didn't they were going to talk about it when she got him back, she was subtle before compared to what was going to happen next, no matter the state they found Chuck in the second he was strong enough to hold a conversation with her, he was.

Snapping out of her inner declaration of war Sarah could hear Casey telling the team that Carmichael was one of their own and that the enemy were part of an anti-establishment group. It wasn't that far from the truth but all they needed to know was the location and the enemy's strength, their reasons for doing what they did really didn't matter. When you push one of their own they push back with extreme prejudice.

Despite what her superiors believed she was going to let Casey lead the team his way, unless they dragged their asses then she would have to give them a kind reminder of why they should redouble their efforts. She trusted Casey's leadership and skill in team operations, but she and Chuck were trained to be ghosts.

Although she had to laugh Chuck would fit well in working with a team, it still surprised her that someone so kind who emitted the naïve aura that he did would choose a career were deceit was an everyday thing. In her opinion he was more suited for this scenario taking care of his team, planning strikes against people and protecting the world out in the open.

Well all clandestine agencies carried their secrets, including the military. Still none of it compared with what Chuck had to do with the CIA, without the right context a lot of what they did could be seen as nothing more than assassination and theft. Yet he not only dealt with it but he was one of the best.

"Walker you ready yet? I wont let you screw this up because of whatever lady feelings your dealing with."Casey was now standing in front of her in full tactical gear, the seal team were already boarding one of the two choppers they were taking on their strike.

"Casey no ones more ready than me right now, and don't make me prove it" Her hand glided over one of the three knifes openly displayed on the thigh of her tactical gear as a clear warning that right now she was not to be messed with, " Besides why do you care, Chu...Charles is CIA why would you request to be involved."

A deep baritone growl erupted from Casey's chest for a moment and Sarah assumed that was going to be his only response before he started talking, "Walker this is a lot bigger than the CIA, I need to be able to trust my team in the field I cant go around wondering if everyone is Fulcrum and still be effective. If I deal with this now before it gets any bigger I can go back to the three important things in my life. Killing Commies, Regan documentaries, and hot pockets." Casey walked towards the lead chopper clearly done with this conversation and ready to get things under way but as he walked she could have sworn she heard Casey say, "Besides I owe the kid"

Perhaps more confused than before but happy that they were moving to save Chuck, Sarah gave her weapons another once over before following after Case. '_I'm coming Chuck'_

* * *

**Chuck POV**

**Captive for 4 hours **

Johnson had left about 20 minutes ago to go retrieve what he liked to call 'Boris'. What the hell a Boris was Chuck had no idea but he had left the idiot with a whip behind to keep him warmed up apparently. Thankfully the guy wasn't as careful as Johnson was and repeatedly turned his back on him when he moved away from his work at Chuck's back and stepped in front of him to pluck up things from the metallic table that contained Johnson's tools, it seems he also had no idea what they did and had a morbid curiosity.

Thankfully this allowed Chuck to wrap his hands around the chains above him that held him in the air, hoisting his legs higher up from the cold ground. Using all the arm strength he had left and ignoring the pain at his ribs from the strain of his his abs like he was, he lifted his legs quietly and slowly until they wrapped around the guard's neck like a snake and with one quick violent twist he collapsed to the floor with a broken neck.

Allowing his body to relax for a minute Chuck started to look around the room for a way to release himself from his chains. Looking towards the now dead guard he wish he hadn't let the body fall to the ground. The man clearly had keys attached to his belt but with Chuck elevated from the ground he was too far away for him to reach with just his legs.

Abandoning that plan of escape Chuck continued to look around the room until his eyes drifted upward and he was reminded of how Sarah escape earlier. The chain wasn't rusted in the least and was far too strong for him to break, but the ceiling it was attached to was another story. He could see the cracks all around the chain not to mention in the haze of pain he was certain he had been feeling small chips of rock from the ceiling fall on his shoulders and head whilst the chain had swung violently during his torture.

Knowing what he was doing to his gun shot wound and ribs by attempting it again Chuck once more wrapped his hands around the chains, but this time when he lifted his legs he kept going until he was suspended upside down with his feet on the ceiling keeping him in the position. Pulling himself up the chains until it looked like he was crouching on the very ceiling he began to use what strength he had in his legs and arms to start pulling at the chain, it didn't take long before he started to hear the peg of the chain in the ceiling start giving way.

Looking towards the ground beneath him he knew that it was going to be a rough landing and that he would need to perform a painful roll when the chain came loose to avoid breaking his neck. Committing to his escape attempt he continued to pull at the chain until it gave way and he plummeted to the ground, taking it to the shoulder he hit the unforgiving stone beneath him and rolled until he felt his back hit the wall.

"Son of a bitch! Arghhhh!" It honestly felt worse than the torture. The pain and tell tail sound of bone giving to force told him that something bad happened on that one.

Laying on the stone floor he looked towards his shoulder, the very same shoulder than Johnson had been using as a pin cushion. Blood poured freely from the wound and his shoulder ached from its new dislocation, even now angry blue and purple marks spread over and around the knife wound.

Standing up was difficult and he did so in a haze of red, ignoring the chains still wrapped around his wrists for the moment he looked towards a corner of the room's walls before he rammed his still bleeding shoulder into it and locked it back into place. Tears were falling freely down Chuck's face now and he had to fight stay conscious from pure willpower alone.

Taking valuable moments to compose himself and suppress the pain he focused on his breathing for a short while before hobbling over to the guard in the centre of the room, pulling the keys of his belt and releasing himself from the chains that were dragging behind him.

He wouldn't last long the new stitches Fulcrum had applied after he last fell unconscious were barley holding together, and the blood from his shoulder showed no signs of stopping. In his condition escape wasn't a possibility, his only chance was to find the building's medical facilities and somehow wrap himself up and give himself a blood transfusion without being discovered,.

Which seeing as how he would need to stay put and let it finish the process that wasn't an easy thing to do. When Johnson came back and discovered Chuck was gone Fulcrum would start tearing the place apart to find him.

Still perhaps if they didn't know how injured he really was, then they wouldn't check the medical area for him first and they would assume he'd tried getting out of the building. Sadly Chuck blood littered his little detention area from his roll and practically screamed he was borrowing time and Chuck found himself with only one option. Walking back over to the guard he crouched down and removed the very same knife that had been used on him and began stabbing into the dead Fulcrum agent.

It was sickening and went against everything he thought he was capable of before joining the CIA, but if he wanted to live then he need Fulcrum to believe he was able, dangerous and currently escaping. If they thought all the blood in the room was the guards then perhaps he could get away with it.

It was a little difficult to cause enough wounds to match the present blood splatter through the fog of pain, but thankfully it didn't take long for him to do. Unable to bear looking at his handy work Chuck worked on the rest of his escape. Deciding to forgo the door knowing he was in no condition to avoid any agents or fight them off as he moved throughout their facility, he found luck on his side with a high vent not that far from where his chains had been placed.

Hoping that the ventilation system travelled throughout the base and that he wouldn't die from his wounds while he was crawling inside, Chuck used whatever remaining strength he had and pulled the cover from the vent, doing the best he could to clamber on inside with it still firm in his grasp he pulled it shut behind himself so that Johnson couldn't figure out how he had left the room.

Hiding here would only work if they didn't know that was how he was moving around. Right now stealth was his best friend and he was going to need to become very familiar with this maze like system and fast if he wanted to get out and see Sarah again.

* * *

_**So evil leaving here yes no maybe. Ok but believe it or not and forget previous broken promises I genuinely have a plan for the next chapter, I don't think its gonna take that long to get out for you. **_

_**Anywho little bit of a rush I only came back home to grab a jacket, been out with friends for a few hours already and were heading back out now. I knew I had to post this but then again have to celebrate the big 20 properly don't we. Thank you for the birthday wishes, not that I left you much choice with all my reminders lol. I truly hope you'll leave me a review for this chapter they really do set the tone for the next chapters release, your opinions are important and appreciated. **_

_**Until next time Long life CHUCK you may be coming to your last season but I will always remember you!**_


	14. There's no such thing as too many

CHUCK VS THE NEW PARTNER

"There's No Such Thing As Too Many Explosives"

_**So yea kinda, just a little, maybe finished this chapter Thursday and totally slipped my mind to actually upload it...my bad. Well its here now and I bet no-one was expecting another chapter so soon, just trying to keep you guessing Mwhahaha. Again I promise no content but hey details you dont need to think to hard on those. **_

_**So seems I lost quite a few readers during the last couple of chapters and well...they were clearly the smart ones and got out while they still could. However despite how much I love reading your opinions on my shoddy imitation of writing I promise still not quitting (boy saying thats getting old) No seriously I love listening to you guys but I mostly write for my own imagination and I want to see these two together as much as you do lol besides not like I expected any readers period when I first started. **_

_**So heres ending that cliff hanger...**_

* * *

**Chuck POV**

**Site Two **

It was cramped

It was dirty

And the CIA should have told him how much time he would be spending inside these kind of ventilation systems when he attended the Farm. He laughed at his first memory of climbing into one of these, all he can remember thinking was John McClain of Die Hard made it look way too easy and you had to be nothing short of an Olympic gymnast to make your way through one of them. Still things change and now even wounded he had spent the last twenty minutes crawling through the small space and quickly found himself looking down into the medical section of the base.

It was small but even with his limited medical knowledge he could tell the equipment was top of the line. Chuck filled that information away as more proof that Fulcrum was better financed that originally expected. The good news was Johnson wasn't lying, he could see the medical fridges on the far side of the room clearly filled with an array of blood packs. The bad news was that no matter how crazy the guy he was clearly careful, from his position it looked like two Fulcrum agents were spread throughout the medical unit including who he assumed to be the facility's doctor.

He only retrieved two knives from Johnson's cart of torture, tucking them into the lone pair of slacks they left him in. And although it was possible both would be extremely difficult to throw due to their weird designs. Chuck almost wished he could kick himself right now, he should have checked to see if the dead guard in his cell at least had a gun, but in the haze of pain Chuck had just assumed they wouldn't let someone so inexperienced alone in a room with him and a loaded gun.

Still he had the knives and they would have to be enough. He would only get one chance at this, if he missed, even if the guards didn't kill him the gunfire would definitely alert the rest of Fulcrum to Chuck's position.

Chuck wished he could spend a few minutes more coming up with a better plan, but he was losing blood fast and staying conscious was becoming a near impossible task, let along throwing kill shots with odd knives. So he started to even out his breathing as best his condition would allow, he folded up on himself so that he could kick down the grate into the medical room and fall down with it simultaneously, a difficult task in the cramped space.

Fulcrum didn't even see him drop through the air, landing on the floor with surprising grace he was pulling the knives from the back of his slacks before they had even turned in his direction.

The bang of the heavy grate hitting the floor alerted their attention and they turned in the direction of the noise with guns poised. Only to be met with a glint of silver before everything vanished.

Chuck didn't even look to see the blades resting in between the eyes of the now dead Fulcrum agents, instead he ran as best he could to one guards side and picked up his side-arm. Pulling back the slide on the pistol and flicking off the safety, he levelled it at the doctor before he could even let out a scream.

"I know...the situation calls for it...but I think it would be in your best interest not to make any sudden moves, or noises right now." Removing his left hand from the gun's grip he held hard onto his side, noticing the drop had torn his bullet wound's stitches, " Otherwise...I'll have to shoot you, sorry. Now you got one chance...to live... I need to a blood transfusion and new stitches...and whatever you...can give me to keep on going would be great.

His breath was ragged and he could barely hold the gun in his outstretched arm, right now he probably couldn't have shot the man if he tried...still that was need to know and a hostage doesn't need to know.

"Y-ye-sss of course um let me just get my gear together." Glad that he had agreed redally Chuck hobbled on over to the medical fridges and pulled out a few packs of his blood type. Returning to the panicking doctor he placed the packs next to the man's tools and pulled himself up onto a table with his gun barley pointing at him.

"Um well ok I'm just going to give you a mild sedative before I..."

"No sedatives!" Chuck's voice was horse and didn't make much of an impact but the command was clear, the doctor only looked towards his syringe for a brief moment before placing it back down and prep-ping a blood pack. Chuck couldn't risk taking anything that could knock him out, staying awake even now was difficult,and although he had the doctor scared for his life he knew it wasn't safe to relax around him or anywhere until he was out of the building.

….

It took a little while and Chuck almost dropped the gun a few times during the procedure, but his condition was no longer life threatening as the blood replenished him and the doctor worked on treating the flowing wounds covering his body. He didn't feel any better though, the pain and exhaustion was still present. It also didn't help that he could feel it every time the doctor pocked and prodded his wounds without the sedative.

Once he was patched up enough to move around it was time to work on his counter attack. Having no idea where he was, wounded, and knowing somehow that back up was on its way soon the best thing Chuck could do was find a place to bunker down and stay put. But true to Chuck Bartowski fashion, he figured that if he was stuck here he'd work on a little bit of payback to keep himself busy.

* * *

**Sarah POV**

**30 minutes away from Site two. **

The chopper cabin was bathed in a red glow from the overhead light and Sarah could barely make out the features of the SEAL team around her through their camo and head gear. For some reason the closer they got to the Fulcrum site, the more nervous she felt. She expected that now they were doing everything possible to get Chuck back she would feel better and more relaxed, but the closer they got he more she worried about the state she would find Chuck in.

It had been about four hours since she and Chuck separated and knowing that he wouldn't have talked, she could only imagine what kind of punishment they had put him through in that time. Talking to Casey wouldn't help his frank attitude wasn't something she needed to hear right now, and to the rest of the team, even if she hadn't said more than two words to them they knew without doubt that she was leader and in that position she couldn't let them know of the fear that was rushing through her veins.

So on her own and determined to get her man back she channelled that fear and braced herself to kill anything that stood in her path.

"Walker, you look like your about to do something stupid" The rotor blades of the helicopter drowned out the noise of Casey's gruff voice but it came in loud & clear over the secure comms at her ears.

The channel was separate than the rest of the team's and she felt it was safe to talk without having to worry about letting confidential information out, "Just don't get in my way Casey and everything will be fine. And let your boys know that if they find a lunatic in their with a toupée he's mine."

"Listen blondie the priority is to get Carmichael out alive, I don't have time to deal with your personal vendettas." Sarah was so riled up that she didn't even pay attention to how much Casey was concerned about Chuck's safety.

"No you listen I know damn well what my priority is, no-one here has as much to lose as I do. But understand this Casey every traitor in there that so much as put their hands on My partner is going to die." It was pretty clear that even though the team couldn't really hear what was being said between her and the major, it was obvious they were both angry.

"You just remember that I'm going in there to find Barto...Carmichael, and when I find him were leaving. If your too busy going on a killing spree to meet us at the pick up zone, I'm not waiting for you. We have no idea what condition he's in and he's probably going to need medical attention."

It felt like razor blades to her heart to hear someone else share her suspicions that Chuck was going to be hurt when they found him but she wouldn't give him the satisfaction by showing it, " Casey everything in my line of site is going to be a target, but I'll be looking for Chuck not Johnson. If I find him I'll enjoy killing him but I wont go looking for him, and if none of us come across him then this should do the trick."

Sarah reached around into the courier bag on her back and pulled the zipper just down enough to show Casey its contents. Inside was a dirty bomb Sarah had constructed from explosive materials she had found at the substation's armoury, she calculated the size of the facility they would be raiding and built it so that it would have enough force to level the warehouse but leave the surrounding area relatively intact.

"Jesus Walker what the hell! Why didn't you tell me about this" Casey reached out for it but Sarah pulled the zip back up and slung it around to her back away from him, "Don t worry I already checked and made sure that there were no civilian buildings or people around the facility, not to mention I have the activation device and I'll make sure everyone here is out before I use it."

"No I mean...what the hell am I supposed to do with this now" Casey pulled out the travel bag from under his seat and pulled the its zipper to show a much more sophisticated bomb than her own. Well its not that surprising considering her's was improvised but Casey must have gotten approval for explosive material from the general before hand.

"Why..."

"You didn't think I was gonna leave that rats-nest intact did you, although I'm a little impressed you came up with the same idea. Still the problem is we have to more explosives than we actually need right now."

Sarah cracked a smile, "Well it doesn't hurt to be too careful, we can use both, the explosive blast should be the same size its probably just going to be more intense if we use both, which is alright with me."

Casey gave an affirmative grunt before zipping the travel bag closed and sliding it back under his seat. Sarah hadn't even noticed the worried faces on the SEAL team, which was understandable considering both team leaders had just pulled out explosives after having a heated shouting match.

* * *

**Johnson POV**

**Site Two**

To say he was furious was the understatement of the century. Not only had he lost his new captive, but that same captive has gone and kidnapped his absolute favourite toys. It didn't take long for Johnson to figure out what the CIA swine was up to, it was a smart idea to cover his tracks with the dead guard but even though he was crazy Johnson was also smart. It was relatively easy to figure out that he was going to head to the medical unit at some point.

Unfortunately by the time he got there all he was greeted with was an additional two dead minions and an unconscious doctor tied to a lab table with medical tubing. On the plus side at least he found his toys, buried in the skulls of his guards but they could be cleaned so it wasn't a real problem.

Stomping over to the doctor with another two Fulcrum agents surrounding him, he slapped the man repeatedly on each cheek until he started to come around, he was sure there was some kind of drug in the room that could do the job for him but hey this was the fun way.

"Hey anyone in there...HElllllloooooooo...If you don't wake up I'm going to cut off something important!"

"Uh ow sir? What are you doing here?"

"Now you'll have to be more specific are you talking about why I'm here on earth and what my mission in life is, or are you referring more directly as to why I'm standing specifically here at his point in this time?"

"Well...right now sir?"

"Glad you asked, I'm here because I'm surrounded by idiots and I'm having to clean up your screw up! Where's my captive!"

"The wounded man? Who dropped from the ceiling?"

"No...I mean yes, probably! Where!"

"Um I patched him up and gave him a transfusion but well just when I was finishing up it all gets a bit fuzzy."

"You patched him up?" There was a noticeable vein twitching above Johnson's right eye.

"Yes sir, he threatened me! I didn't have a choice."

Johnson didn't even wait to here the rest before he put a bullet into the young doctor's chest, ignoring him as he tried to talk around the blood filling his mouth Johnson turned back around and he walked back over to his protection detail, "Alright things have gotten a little complicated. The captive is armed and no longer in imminent danger of dying on his little own-some so lets help him out with that. He's using the vents to move around the facility I want someone in the control room looking for any anomalies in the vents if he up there it should show on the sensors somehow."

Before they could even leave the room to carry out their orders the medical unit's door shut closed with a hiss and sealed themselves air tight. At the same time the crackling of a mic surrounded them.

"Hello?...is this thing on? I'm still get...Wait, wait I think I got it!"

"*Cough* Paging a Chris Johnson I repeat paging a Chris Johnson could you please get to the closest intercom and ring the control centre please thank you!"

Storming over to the unit on the side he smashed his finger down on the intercom's button, "Who the hell is this? And why am I locked inside the medical unit?""

"Oh hi, uh you probably remember me as CIA scum I hope you haven't forgotten about me. You see I was strolling through that air duct system of yours and I came across this neat little room, in fact I even came across this guy Paul"

"Your in my control room! Aren't you! And who the fuck is Paul!"

"Yep control room that's what it was called, how nice of you to automate this entire warehouse, otherwise I never would have been able to isolate every Fulcrum agent around the facility. And as for Paul he told me you would say that, he also said maybe you would recognise the name Petey instead?"

"Petey? You have my Petey! No one touches my slave!"

"I know right two hostages in one day! Who knew I had it in me!. Anyway he's actually being quite helpful he gave me a quick crash course on how to navigate your systems and now he's helping me to download secure Fulcrum files from your private sever"

"Now I know your lying there's no way he would ever risk his life by going against me like that!"

"If it makes you feel any better he was pretty resistant at first, and I felt really bad when I pistol whipped him. Funny enough though he willing started to help when I told him I could take you down. Hmm bad blood between you two?"

"When I get outta here what I did to you before will seem like Heaven, I'm going..."

"No your not Johnson, by the time you can even override the door controls I'll be long gone."

Johnson smashed his fist into the intercom controls. Things weren't supposed to go this way, the CIA agent was supposed to be tied up spewing all the information he had and then things were supposed to go back to the way they were, "How far to you think you'll get stretch? Emergency treatment by this quack isn't going to last long! I'll find you and make you squeal!"

"Maybe that's true I wouldn't get far, but I don't have to. Looks like my very own guardian angel has arrived."

* * *

**Casey POV **

**Site two**

Doing one quick low pass over the Fulcrum warehouse, the chopper quickly swung around and held its position for the team to rappel down into the facility. Before he even made his judgement her mental state he knew Walker would have separated from the pack and moved throughout the facility on her own. She was a spook and she couldn't stay invisible if she was with them.

Still Casey was surprised that she was already on the move before his feet touched the ground, smashing open the small roof entrance Sarah was running ahead of them with a semi automatic raised to kill anything that crossed its sights. If this was anyone else he would have made them slow down and check their corners more thoroughly but even at her speed he could see her eyes dart around the rooms, she wasn't being careless she was just that determined.

It didn't take long before she ran a corner and escaped his sight, deciding it was best to let her do her thing he took his team and continued down another area of the facility.

The odd thing was doors seemed to keep opening for them as they continued on, and when they did encounter Fulcrum agents they all seemed to be grouped together. It was a shooting gallery for himself and his team. Normally this would have stunk of a trap, things were going to easy and if life as a NSA agent taught him anything it was nothing is easy. It felt a little like he was being lead somewhere but right now he didn't have much choice but continue down the current path.

He owed Bartowski and CIA or no they really couldn't afford to lose someone like him right now he was one of the good ones,Walker too when she wasn't crazy.

He wasn't surprised the skirt seemed to be compromised over Chuck he'd seen the kid have that kind of effect on the opposite sex before, even if he was completely oblivious to it. Still it seemed to be more than sex, Casey knew Bartowski didn't get involved with his partners and Walker had always been slightly cold even for a spy. So the pairing was slightly odd but whatever, so long as he didn't have to put up with any lady feelings he didn't care.

Casey and his team came across another two groups of Fulcrum agents before they came to a stop outside what looked to be a pretty important room, the door was more armoured than the ones they had passed so far. The wiring along the walls all seemed to be leading into that room so likely it was some kind of control centre of some kind.

He signalled for one of his team to get the door open, the door was too thick for a blast charge but it had a control panel to the side, it looked pretty complex but if they could get in then perhaps there would be security cameras they could manipulate to found out which section of the warehouse Chuck was being held in.

Before the tech guy even had time to attach his equipment up to the wall the door raised open wish a hiss and they were left staring into a room with a mousy man looking at the computers. Casey didn't even give the order, his SEAL team marched in the room with guns trained on their target. From what he could tell the guy was shaking in his seat, it wasn't surprising having fully armed tactical team march in on you had that kind of effect on a guy.

If Casey was honest he was a little disappointed, he had honestly started to think Chuck was opening the doors and leading them to the Fulcrum agents, and if he could do that then he had to be alive. Even just looking at his back he knew the mousy guy in the chair couldn't be Charles Carmichael.

Taking his first step into the room after his team, Casey was met with the distinctive click of a gun hammer. Someone had been standing inside the doorway out of sight when the team charged the room.

It was moments like this he hated it made him feel like a rookie, when he saw the target in the chair he hadn't even bothered to check the room's corners and now whatever moron had a gun trained on him had the team's leader hostage, although that still wouldn't stop him from ordering them to put a bullet between the guy's eyes just because he might die.

"You better make the most of this moment because in the next I'm gonna have them shoot you" He pointed to the team in front of them who had now started to turn around at the sound of Casey's voice.

"Nice to see you too Sugarbear...I was expecting a hot blonde but I guess you'll do" Casey didn't suppress his distinctive growl at the nickname, only three people in the entire world knew that name. His mother, Ilsa Trinchina, and the pain in his ass that was Chuck Bartowski.

Looking to the left he was rewarded with a pale looking and rather messed up nerd who barley held the gun up for another few seconds before he collapsed against the wall he had been hiding behind.

"There you are moron, I've been looking for you. And I believe we had a very very long talk about you calling me that in public, in fact you calling me it at all!"

"Meh It slipped my mind...How'd you find me Casey I thought...only the CIA had access to my tracker." The nerd was messed up he could see the two deep wounds that both looked like they'd been treated rougher than they ever should have been, not to mention the severe bruising. Walker was gonna be pissed.

"Truthfully I just followed the smell of insurgents and I just found you on accident" Casey took his eyes of Carmichael for a moment to signal for a medic. Chuck wasn't in immediate danger but he was badly injured, hopefully some basic medical attention could relive some of his pain.

"I figured that would be it, no can find those bastards better than you Casey. Then again for a brief mo...ment I thought you might have been getting all... mushy over my well-being. You haven't started caring about me have you?

"Jesus Carmichael how much blood did you loose, your starting to get delusional you know the only reason I'm here is because I don't like to miss gun play. Besides the CIA skirt is here too, this is a joint op now bub so get used to putting up with me"

"Don't worry big guy I know the truth even if you don't want to...you missed me" This had to be the thing he hated about Chuck the most, no matter how much he growled or tried to look threatening the kid would not stop talking or expressing his lady feelings, "Besides I only say this now...because I know that no matter...how much you may want to, you wont hit a wounded man"

"Shut up already. Besides I don't need to Blondie's going to do all the work for me when she sees the state you got yourself in" He didn't know if the loss of colour in his face was the fear from Sarah Walker or the blood loss, but Casey decided to smile anyway.

"Yea well I'm gonna take this chance to pass out now, tell Sarah I'm sorry I missed her"Casey looked towards his medical officer to check if it was okay for him to fall asleep, with a reaffirming nod he turned back to watched Chuck slump even further down the wall. He looked pretty dead to him, so Casey decided it was in his best interest to make sure Walker didn't see him in this state.

And if on cue his mic buzzed to life, "_Dammit Has Anyone Found Carmichael Yet!" _

"Yea Walker we got him, set your explosives and we'll meet you at the chopper"

"_How Is He Casey!"_

"He's fine Walker get moving already!"

Ignoring Walker buzzing in his ear he left Carmichael to the medical officer as he prepared him for transport and started making his way to the other man in the control room who was still be held at gun point by his team.

"Who are you!"

The trembling hadn't stopped since he met the guy and he was a little worried he was going to have a heart attack, "Uh Paul sir, I work um I did work here. I had no idea what Fulcrum was until I joined and once I was in I couldn't get back out. The man over there said he would help me if I could help him get information on them"

There Chuck goes again being a pain in his ass, there was no way he could make promises like that. The general would probably want to fry this guy simply for knowing about Fulcrum let alone being involved, "Where's this information?"

"He-here Its on this portable hardrive, I don't have a lot of access but I knew my boss's password since he could never remember it. I'm not sure what it all means but I think it has a few names and locations on it" Well maybe the kid did have a chance at making it through this after all, names of other agents and Fulcrum hideouts would go a long way to bringing the organisation down. With this kind of information at the very least he should be able to get some kind of freedom.

"Alright people we got what we need! Carmichael and the little guy here is gonna stay in the middle, I'll hold up the rear and you guys are going to jump up front. If it isn't blonde shoot it! Aside from the Walker anyone we encounter from this point on his a traitor and a terrorist, terminate on sight!" His team cocked their weapons and started to move out, no prisoners would be necessary thanks to the hardrive.

Despite carrying an injured Chuck it was easier to move throughout the facility this time, knowing the route sped things up immensely. They continued to watch out for any Fulcrum agents on their way back to the chopper but sadly no gun play was involved as they made it without incident.

Loading Chuck into the chopper Casey looked back towards their entry point and was hoping Walker would hurry up and get out of there. He was serious when he said the he wasn't going to wait for her before they took off. Chuck was injured pretty badly and well he wasn't willing to wait because of some stupid vendetta she had. What was done was done, he would like to get his hands on this Johnson too if he got the chance but he knew where his priorities lie. For someone who was so blatantly against them, it looked like Walker didn't even realise this is why she hated relationships in the spy game, they made you sloppy.

Lucky for her Casey's inner rant at the CIA was interrupted with Walker walking onto the roof looking all the world like she had just stepped off a cat walk. Well at least she did until he noticed that her black tactical gear was soaked, even if he couldn't quite make up the colour on her clothes it was very obviously speckled across her face. It seems during their time apart Walker had gone and gotten herself covered in blood, and for once he wasn't sure he wanted to know. Still he felt obligated to at least check if she was alright, "You alright there skirt? not going to bleed out on me are you?"

"Not my blood Casey I wouldn't think about it too much, where's Chuck?" He wanted to laugh at least a little anyway, it looked like she didn't even realise she was calling him by his real name rather than Charles or Carmichael. Her eyes were the biggest give away of her compromised status, the weren't even seeing him, it was like she was looking straight through him and searching out Chuck.

"Yea well unfortunately its my job to think about it, Who's blood Walker or do I already know?" For the first time since she turned up she actually looked at him, unfortunately it was with anger. Seems she was getting a little upset from being separated from lover boy longer than she had to be.

"I found Johnson pretty early on, one of the doors opened up just as I was running past. I told you Casey I wasn't going to waste my time on him while Chuck was still in danger, and I meant it. Still I thought instead of running around blind I would get Johnson to tell me where my partner was, as it turned out he was a little..."She took a second to wipe away a bit of blood from her face despite this fact that it wasn't making much of a difference, "...Stubborn about it. You interrupted me when you told me you had Chuck, and as I promised I left and came straight here. I just left my bomb strapped to Johnson, and Johnson strapped to a table.

Casey wasn't sure what to make of that, any report she made about what happened here to their superiors would excuse what she did. In theory she found a more efficient way to find Bartowski, and she was technically able to plant a device to level the enemy stronghold. That was all true even if the reality was far more gruesome off paper.

Also it seems she was done with him because with nothing more than a quick glance she was hopping on board the chopper and sitting down next to Chuck's stretcher. Casey didn't waste much time, for all he knew she could have put that bomb on a timer and he wanted to get out of here as quick as possible.

He leaned in to the cockpit for a few seconds to let the pilot know that he could take off, and sat down with his men. The joy in their faces was obvious from performing a successful mission with no casualties, but they knew better than to celebrate until they touched down back home. Looking over to Walker he watched the medic work his way around her, from the looks of things the blood had him too scared to ask her to give him room to work and he just decided to do the best he could.

If the death grip she had on Chuck's hand was any indication whatever their relationship was it definitely wasn't just sex. He guessed as much from the beginning, neither of them had a history of getting involved with their partners in that kind of relationship. But there was something between them and he truly hoped it didn't get either of them killed.

So it was clear Walker felt something for Chuck but seeing as how boy wonder was unconscious at the moment, he had no idea how he felt about her. No one had ever really gotten close to the real Chuck Bartowski, it was someone he guarded more than anything, not for himself but for his family. Casey had never had the chance to meet her but he knew that Chuck had a sister that he adored, and some kind of makeshift family that he had mentioned to him before. They were the reason he kept Carmichael and Bartowski separate. Walker may be setting herself up to fail but for one strange and very quick moment he almost hoped she succeeded. Chuck was content but he wasn't happy, perhaps if he let someone in other than Casey then something would change.

Still that was all lady feelings and fluffy bunnies, nothing he wanted to or would get involved in. They were all going to be working with each other in the near future and if they proved to be impossible to work with then Casey would force a change one way or another.

* * *

_**...And kinda leave you with another one. I know a few of you were probably hoping for a bit more this chapter but the chapter is mostly just to keep things moving, with all the changes in pov I didn't want to throw too much in and confuse myself. **_

_**Originally in the next chapter I was thinking of doing a whole christmas thing with Chuck afraid of Sarah for killing Johnson so cruelly but not only did I think that Chuck would probably be much more prepared for that kind of thing, but I figure if I did that kind of thing that would hold the relation ship up I would be looking over my shoullder for the rest of my life scared you guys would finally find me. So dumping that idea lets continue on with the Chararhy Charah stuff. **_

_**So please let me know what you thought, I'm a little nervous about the escape and more graphics parts. **_

_**Well until next time **_


	15. That's some really good morphine

CHUCK VS THE NEW PARTNER

"That's some really good morphine"

**Don't Panic! Don't Panic! This is not the end of the world, I have just updated thats all. Admitadly a little odd I've updated so soon but hey I figured you lovely people would appreciate it. **

**This one is a whoppah 8000 words on the story alone and not my incessant ranting. Longest chapter yet and I strongly suggest you take breaks periodically to avoid blood clots or the homicidal tendencies that usually develop due to over exposure to my writing. Not everyone is freakishly immune like JT, the loon must have been drinking heavily to make it through every chapter in a day.**

**Oooh oooh before I forget I just want to thank everyone for the reviews last time they were soo awesome and I'm glad it was well received, so many of you wanted to know about Casey lol. Also I'm really glad to see some new readers over the last couple of chapters and I'm really looking forward to hearing what you think about this one.**

**Enjoy or not! I wont be concious to the world for a while its 3:00, its been a long day and I'm strongly considering sleeping until season 5 comes out. GOODNIGHT XD **

* * *

**Sarah POV**

**CIA Medical Station**

He looked peaceful Sarah thought.

Chuck was asleep on the hospital bed in front of her dead to the world around him, she doubted even gunfire would wake him at this point. They'd been at the hospital for about day and he'd spent about half of that in surgery. She hadn't left his side and didn't plan to, she'd even skipped a meeting with the Director & General deciding to leave it to Casey to debrief them on what happened at that warehouse.

She was sure whatever he was telling them didn't really put her in a favourable light but she couldn't find it in herself to care right now, besides no matter what he said to their superiors he wouldn't outright sell her out Casey just wasn't that kind of guy.

Chuck stirred a little in his sleep and Sarah shuffled herself closer to him gripping at his hand with both her own just wishing he could open those warm eyes for her even once. He didn't though, Chuck moved around a little more before he let out a sigh and seemed to continue with his rest. Ignoring the pang of disappointed that he wasn't waking up she decided to focus more on the positive, the doctors assured her that he would definitely wake up and that his body just needed time to recuperate after its ordeal.

The information didn't really comfort her as much as she hoped but there was nothing more she could do, she got Chuck back, levelled a Fulcrum facility and blew up a murdering drug dealer. She liked to think that was a pretty good accomplishment for one day, but now that she was losing the energy the rushing adrenalin had given her she was dead on her feet. Sarah hadn't slept since the whole thing had began and she knew she still had more work to do, she had to be there for Chuck when he woke up.

Still as she watched him sleep she started to count the soft breathing, watched his bandaged chest rise up and down in a steady rhythm. She started to feel like she was being pulled into some kind of peaceful trance.

Sarah was as close to his bed as the crappy hospital chair would allow but as she continued to watch him she still found herself getting closer and closer to Chuck. Some distant part of her brain that seemed to escape the fog of Chuck, told her that she must have gotten out of the chair and for some crazy reason was crawling onto his hospital bed. She didn't care.

Ignoring the sane part of her mind the only thing Sarah took from the knowledge that she was climbing into his bed was she had to be careful not to aggravate his injuries whilst she did so.

It took a few minutes with her being so careful but eventually she was laying down next to her partner, her head resting on his shoulder tucked into the crook of his neck. She was laying on his uninjured shoulder but his bullet wound was on her side and she was frustrated that she couldn't wrap herself around him more fully without causing him unnecessary pain. Ever since she had found out the extent of his injuries she had been trying to avoid thinking about them.

She knew about the gunshot wound already, but he had intense bruising around his ribs and especially on his shoulder. That same shoulder had a jagged knife wound that they believed was designed to inflict maximum pain on the victim. The doctor had recited the list of his wounds to her like so, like Chuck wasn't even a person but just a name on his clipboard.

She understood that he was probably used to seeing these sort of things or that it could have been some kind of defence mechanism to avoid getting to personal with his patients, and it was that understanding that stopped her from breaking his nose.

If she had been quicker in getting back to the substation, or getting the team together then perhaps Chuck wouldn't have had to go through so much pain. Those kind of thoughts swam through her mind whenever she thought of the long list of injuries he suffered, and it was exactly the reason why she didn't want to think of them.

Since Sarah couldn't wrap herself around him she held tighter onto the hand that was now laying still between both their bodies. Getting comfortable on the bed and looking up from her position on his shoulder she was barely aware of how strange this situation must be considering they weren't even together, and they were usually fighting 80% of the time. All she cared about was that soothing warmth that travelled between the two when they were touching each other.

That talk Chuck owed her could either result in the single greatest moment of her life, or it could cause irreparable pain and embarrassment to their working relationship. She slowly fell asleep but just before she felt the world close of Sarah could have sworn he felt something squeeze her hand.

* * *

**Casey POV**

Damn Walker and damn Bartowski. All he asked was an abundance of gun play and as limited paperwork as humanly possible, he didn't think that was too much to ask. Yet any time he met with either of those two things quickly started to go down the crapper. He'd just spent that last two hours talking to superiors who didn't care how things were done or why, only if something went wrong and who they could use as a scapegoat if it did.

Of course if he'd had some help then it wouldn't have all come down to him, but no he was left to explain not only his own actions during that op but also Walker's. Even knowing he did nothing wrong it was always difficult to explain your actions during the mission when your no longer being effected by the heat of the moment. Still Casey prided himself on being professional and efficient, Walker's actions was another thing all together.

Graham's wild card enforcer had always been unpredictable but it was more to do with how she could operate outside the box in a moments notice, she was the best for a reason. What he saw at that warehouse was something else all together, what he saw was Sarah let out of whatever mental cage she had been kept in all this time.

It wasn't easy to explain her actions after she had separated from the group when she got inside, but he figured a fair amount of lying was ok since he really didn't know too much of what she got up too. In fact what he did know he decided to lie about too, for example her little personal time with Fulcrum's Chris Johnson and decided to leave it at he was killed in the explosion. Beckman had asked if he could confirm that he perished in the blast, it was difficult to explain that Walker had tied him to the bomb so he told them that he was in such close proximity to the blast that escape was near impossible and he was likely vaporized.

Thankfully they seemed ok with the results of the mission and didn't dig too much, especially after he revealed the hardrive filled with information on Fulcrum.

He wasn't wrong about Beckman wanting to incarcerate the Fulcrum scientist when she found out about him, but surprisingly Graham pushed to have Paul placed into witness protection. He seemed to believe the guy was too low in Fulcrum's hierarchy that they wouldn't even bother trying to find him.

After a while Casey watched as Beckman finally gave up on Paul clearly not caring enough to continue the conversation any longer, if he had to guess he figured that Graham was used to Chuck's near fanatical obsession with saving lives and had picked up a few bad habits from him.

After that there wasn't much more to talk about and he was excused with a promise that there would be a team meeting once Chuck was awake and aware enough to be briefed on new events.

So now with his superiors fully debriefed Casey decided he would go visit Bartowski and see if he was awake, of course this meant that he would be visiting Walker too since she was guaranteed to be there. She had damn near thrown a fit whenever anyone had tried to get her out of the hospital room.

Travelling down the hospital ward for a few more minutes in his calm military stride it wasn't long before Casey stopped just before Chuck's private room. Looking in through the small window built into the door, Casey honestly considered turning around and forgetting he had ever met those two. Still he swallowed the bile that threatened to escape his throat and pushed the door open loud enough to announce his presence.

There they were, Walker had somehow gotten herself onto Chuck's hospital bed and wrapped herself pretty sung around him. What was worse was Chuck was awake and looking down at her in a way that just made him sick, this coupled with him brushing Sarah's hair our of her closed eyes only made him want to puke more.

"Ugh something really is wrong with you Bartowski" At the mention of his real name, Chuck seemed to panic a little and looked down at Sarah again worried that she might have heard him.

"Jeez Casey could you say that any louder, I don't think people in the morgue heard you."

"Ah keep your panties on kid, if Walker knew I was here witnessing this I'd probably be joining them in the morgue. Relax she's out cold." Chuck visibly relaxed knowing Sarah wouldn't over hear them and went straight back to making googly eyes at her.

"I'm surprised your so concerned with Walker hearing your name considering the way your looking at her right now." Casey laughed a little inside but it seems Chuck was promptly ignoring him.

"Casey were not...like that." Casey didn't think the kid could hide the disappointment in his voice if he tried, and considering he was a trained spy that was saying something. So he didn't say anything he just growled, they'd known each other too long for Bartowski to give him this kinda bullshit.

"Alright! Alright, but I wasn't lying were really not like that. Truth is I don't know what we are and that's a problem"

"What happened to Carmichael Chuck? I thought he didn't get involved with his partners, anyone connected to the spy world actually."

"Hell if I know Casey she's just...different." He looked down at her one last time before his eyes settled back to Casey, " She's important, and I don't know how or why, she just is. Considering I tried my damn hardest to stop it the fact that I still feel these things for her its scaring me Casey."

"So what are you going to do about it? Considering what she did to get you back, I doubt she's gonna let you keep things stagnant like they are. She's going to make sure things change, one way or another."

"I know I know, I promised her we would talk and were going to. Still I cant help but wish I could put it off for just a little longer" Looking down at her again Bartowski seemed to release a defeated sigh before looking back at him with that stupid grin on his face, " How are you and Ilsa doing? I haven't spoken to either of you since you travelled over to France"

"Didn't work out kid" Casey didn't really want to get into it and hoped that a quick answer would stop Bartowski from his usual prying ways.

"What do you mean it didn't work out! You pined over her death for years" Chuck was giving him a harsh whisper and he wasn't sure if it was because he was worried about tearing his stitches or waking up the blonde who was currently using his chest as a pillow.

"Listen Bartowski, first things first I don't pine for anybody got me, ever! Secondly...I appreciate what you did for us I really do, if it wasn't for you I'd still think she was dead and we wouldn't have even had the chance to try. We gave things a go we did and even though we work as a couple, she loves the job too much to quit and I don't know if I agree with that." He could see the shock in Chuck's eyes from his admission and he could already feel the migraine from the barrage of questions.

"Well um odd I figure you'd be a military man for life Casey, I would've thought that her being so dedicated to her job would only appeal to you."

"It did...does appeal to me. Listen kid your right I only know the military and I plan to serve as long as I can, but that doesn't mean I intend to be a field agent forever. You need to know when to quit and to be honest I don't think she does."

This time it was Casey who looked toward Sarah before he started speaking again, "This job will get to you and I'm not talking just about the nightmares. It will take who you are and it will rip you apart until there's nothing left but a shell, and that's if you come home from a mission in the first place." Standing up Casey began walking to the door, "You cant be in a relationship with someone doing this, sure it will work for a while but eventually they stop being who you fell in love with in the first place."

"Don't worry kid, your smarter than that you'll know when to quit. And your also smart enough never to tell anyone that I said those things" Casey's hand was on the door and pulling it open before Chuck could even open that thing he called a mouth, "By the way Carmichael we have a debriefing, wake up Walker and I'll meet you both in the conference room in twenty"

* * *

**Chuck POV**

If Chuck was being completely honest with himself that was one of the weirdest experiences of his entire adult life.

Sure he and Casey had gone on a fair few joint mission together and they'd certainly gotten closer since he accidentally helped him find his dead lover Ilsa, but if you had asked him a week ago if he thought he would ever be having that kind of conversation with Major John Casey well he...he;d have to call you as crazy as Johnson was.

Thinking of Johnson Chuck was curious to find out what happened to him and the Fulcrum facility he was detained at. All he could remember after escaping and gaining control of the facility, was he'd led Casey's team to himself using the door controls and watched on the monitor as Johnson finally managed to override the door to the medical bay only to come face to face with Sarah Walker when he did, that was just bad timing on his part.

Chuck didn't have time to find out what she did with him as Casey's team was already at the control room door. After that things got a little fuzzy until he woke up to a soft weight pushing down on his chest.

To say he was surprised to find Sarah sleeping on him was a little more than a understatement. He'd had more than his fair share of dreams about them sharing this position together, minus the stitches of course. Those he was reminded of when he tried to pull her that little bit closer, and her arm came in contact with the bullet wound at his side.

After a intense session of whispering curses to thin air, he settled for staring down on his very own vision of heaven. Sarah was wearing not a lick of make up and the bags under her eyes gave away her exhaustion, and yet she was beautiful. He wanted her but when he thought of bringing more of the spy element to his family it made him doubt. Because if he decided to date Sarah Walker that's exactly what he would be doing, having one spy connected to their lives was bad enough but two spies would make them walking targets.

Still every time he squeezed her hand and she instinctively squeezed back in her sleep he couldn't help but smile and think that the risk was worth it, almost non existent. Hell no one had ever found out his real name let alone that he had a family. Dating Sarah didn't mean they had to be at risk, it meant they had to be more careful and that he would have to ingrain in Sarah exactly how big a risk he was taking, and how much she meant to him if he was taking that risk in the first place.

When Casey walked in and talked about quitting, for a brief moment he honestly thought about himself and Sarah away from a life of lies, death and deceit. Still that was only if she wasn't like Ilsa, he knew how dedicated she was to her career.

Unable to stand those depressive thought any longer he figured maybe he should bite the proverbial bullet and wake her up for that talk he owed her. He also thought that since he was taking a risk, he might as well try something else in case it was the last time he ever allowed himself the opportunity.

Leaning closer Chuck placed the softest of kisses on her pouted lips and watched with a smile as she tried to lean into him from her position on his shoulder. Chuck contained his mirth at watching her trying to find him in her sleep, "Sarah...Sarah wake up c'mon"

Her nose scrunched up adorably and her eyes quickly followed as they tried to look around the hospital room for the noise. Looking down at her he was pleasantly surprised to see her so out of it, most spies never let themselves relax enough to get in this state.

Her lips spread into a sweet smile as her eyes finally landed on him through her sleepy haze, although much to Chuck's chagrin it didn't last long. After a minute or so of staring at each other Sarah seemed to realise that that for Chuck to be looking down at her it would mean that he was awake. She lifted her head from his shoulder with a snap and reversed their position so that she was was the one hovering over him, in doing so she placed her hand on his injured shoulder and he let out a yelp of pain.

Sarah clearly in nurse mode was looking down at him trying to find the source of his pain, "Chuck! Chuck what's wrong, where does it hurt? I'll get the doctor!"

"Sarah my shoulder, your hand!" His voice came at much more weak and winy than he was comfortable with but in all fairness he had just survived torture.

Sarah realised her mistake and pulled her hand away from his shoulder as quick as she possibly could and settled from fidgeting with her nails while she waited for him to relax from the sudden surge of pain. As he started to calm down Chuck looked towards her face and his heart broke a little at the guilty expression she carried, she honestly looked like she had just committed treason.

"Sarah its fine, I'm okay now" He fought the urge to laugh a little at the stunned look on her face as if he had just read her mind. It occurred to Chuck that ever since he had woken up and found Sarah, he'd paid attention to every single look and expression she made. Not that he didn't always it was just odd to find himself so focused on a person.

"Chuck I'm so sorry its all my fault, not just the shoulder but all of it. If I'd been faster then maybe you wouldn't have been so injured, hell I shouldn't have left you there in the first place. We are partners and I just abandoned you.

"Sarah you didn't abandon me, I told you to leave. If you'd stayed we both would have been captured, and Fulcrum could torture me all they wanted but I couldn't have watched them torture you along with me. You made the right call"

Sarah let out a uncharacteristic sniffle before she moved a little closer to him, pushed Chuck down a bit and rested her head back at its original position, "Do you mind?"

"Uh no no its ok, you look tired" He found it a little strange she was being so openly touchy with him. He knew he woke up in this position but judging Sarah's personality she probably thought she would wake before him and he wouldn't even have known she'd been there.

"Chuck we need to talk" Chuck swallowed harshly at that, he knew it was that time and he was prepared for it but he couldn't help but be nervous, so much so that he shifted a little as he prepared himself mentally.

Still he couldn't get very far with Sarah gripping so harshly onto his body, and he found himself coming to the conclusion that even if she was tired the main reason for her lying down next to him was so that she could restrict his movement. Chuck thought it a little unfair she thought he might flake out on his promise, but he figured given his performance the last couple of days before the mission, dodging her at every turn her precautions were fair enough.

"Yea I promised we would...Although I'll admit I'm at a bit of a loss as to where we start" The full body grip she had on him seemed to lessen a little but as if she was reconsidering she tightened up again, but this time it was more like she was snuggling into his shoulder, "Me too Chuck me too"

_Here goes nothing..._

"Sarah its funny how being tortured by a madman can kinda put things into perspective for you so I'll try my best to get straight to the point. I care for you I do, more than a partner should. There's something about you that lets you get right under my skin in a way no one else can, you irritate and excite me more than anyone I know." He couldn't see her face at the moment but he figured by the way Sarah's grip tightened on the hospital gown and her silence that he should keep going.

"But Sarah there are things I need to protect. A few years ago I would have dived at whatever this is between us, but I've seen what's out there in the dark and I need to be cautious. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I need to be able to trust you, always" Chuck knew he could trust her to cover his back, hell she had proven that by finding him in that Fulcrum facility. However it wasn't just him, he'd need her to cover his families backs too. He didn't know if that would be something she would be willing to carry.

He could here some quiet whispers into his neck but he couldn't really make out what she was saying to him. He shifted onto his side despite the pain so that they were laying down next to each other and he stared into her face that had moments ago been hidden from him. He needed to be able to look at her while they did this, he needed to know that ever word was spoken with truth and conviction.

He reached out to her with his hand and curled the hair that covered the remaining portions of her face that he couldn't quite see, " Go on Sarah"

"Chuck I have an idea of what your talking about and I still want you. I don't get it either. I avoid this kind of thing normally. But this isn't normal what we have between us, its all consuming and all I find myself thinking about is you" She gripped onto his hand that was retreating from her face and clutched it in between both of hers" I know its going to interfere with our missions, but it already is this stupid tension barley hidden between us. We already feel these emotions Chuck at this point things will only get better if we actually embrace them. I'm hardly being subtle I know but like you said straight to the point. I want to have more than this professional relationship with you and I want more than an agents casual sex."

Despite the way she had been acting since he'd woken up it was still shocking to see her being so frank about this. Ignoring what he himself said he figured they would be dodging around the point of this conversation for awhile before they made any real progress. But here she was, despite the very real fear on her face she was embracing what could very well be something great and something dangerous, It was awe-inspiring really.

"Sarah you know when you think your gonna die and your whole life is supposed to flash in front of you. That didn't exactly happen for me yesterday in fact mostly it was just a list that I saw, a list of stuff I haven't done or haven't had a chance to say. So today, today I want to start crossing stuff of my list. And this is the first thing I promised myself I would do." They were already passed this point but taking a deep breath Chuck prepared to put himself out there.

"I just cant do this anymore. The longer we go, the longer we try to fool people into believing were a real couple, the person I end up fooling the most...is me. And I don't want to have to fool myself any longer, I want you too. I want to take you out to a nice restaurant, I want to be able to hold your hand in public, kiss you, and I want to do it simply because I can without any ticking time bombs or bad guys with guns."

Chuck was breathing heavy after his little impromptu speech and if he was completely honest he didn't have a clue if it was because of the emotional exhaustion or because his stitches made it hard to breath and he had been talking much too fast. Almost afraid to look at Sarah and gauge her reaction he settled for looking over her shoulder at an interesting spot on the wall.

"That was..."

"Let me take you out on a date sometime!" At the sound of her voice the Bartowski panic mode kicked in and his mouth opened once again and all he could think was, '_Trained spy my ass! Shut up stupid!' _

For the first time since he had started speaking he looked Sarah in the eye and was pleased to see a hesitant smile on her lips and he hoped he could take that as a sign that things were going well.

"Like a real date?"

"Yea" He probably couldn't have said any more if he wanted to, the panic had finally reached his throat and he honestly didn't think he could talk around them. At least this way he couldn't talk himself into trouble anymore.

"Ok"

He honestly didn't think he was hearing her right, she had confessed to caring about him, she'd rescued him from certain death and still it was damn right unbelievable that Sarah freaking Walker was agreeing to a date with him.

"Really?" He promised himself this was the last time he'd ask her to confirm the whole thing, but he just couldn't rule out this was all a wonderful and yet cruel effect of some really powerful morphine.

"Mmmhhmm...Oh of course there is just one condition Chuck." Condition? There were conditions to getting a date?

"Condition?" He didn't bother to hide his confusion.

"Yep" Sarah was shifting herself once again and softly moved Chuck at the same time and repositioned him so that he was on his back and she was hovering over him on her hands and knees

"Um and that is?"

"Hold still" Then she descended to his mouth. Using her tongue to pry open his lips she began to ravish his mouth in earnest. He wasn't exactly stopping her in his surprise and by the time his brain had caught onto what was going on, his body was already a willing participant and kissing Sarah back with equal fire.

He began to nibble on her bottom lip lightly with his teeth earning a throaty growl from her when he did. Early on in their partnership he had noticed she would capture that lip in between her own teeth whenever she was stuck on a problem, he figured it was some kind of nervous habit she had developed as a child and had never quite been able to break.

When he was still objective and not so involved with Sarah he could remember thinking that whoever her boyfriend was, he probably wouldn't be able to resist confirming like Chuck how soft that lip actually was. Of course at the time he never thought he would be the one doing this with her, or that he would enjoy it so much when he did.

Sarah seemed to loose most of the strength in her extremities as she was starting to lay over him, keeping herself up just enough so that she wouldn't aggravate his injuries. It seems that right now she did not want to be interrupted by a visit from the doctor. Personally he thought someone was definitely going to turn up, in his haze he was sure he could hear the heart monitor he was attached too, going wild in the background. It sounded like he was going to have a heart attack.

This kiss was full of passion & lust, it burned his lips, skin and heart. It was like they had been lovers for years who had been separated and only just reunited, still remembering exactly what drove the other insane. Because that's exactly what she was doing to him, he couldn't explain it but she just seemed to know exactly how he would respond to the gentle touches she would lay on him.

Although it was like she couldn't be satisfied with just his lack of control and enjoyed bringing new reactions from him, anything from a groan to his hands tightening so much that he would bruise her hips. The hips that right now he was right now clutching onto for dear life.

He wasn't sure how long they stayed together, attached by the lips and drowning in the sensations of each other but eventually they had to break apart and take in the sterilised air of the hospital.

Chuck's lungs were burning and looking at Sarah he wasn't surprised to see her smiling like the cat that ate the canary. Casey would have a field day if he knew that Sarah had pretty much just taken advantage of him.

Thinking of Casey he was reminded that they had a debriefing to go to, and as much as he wanted to stay in bed with Sarah forever they really had to get going. Chuck was sure they had already taken much too long for the Major's liking already.

Sound idea in theory but it seems Sarah wasn't quite done with him as she moved in to capture his lips a second time. Reluctantly he placed his hands on her shoulder and had just enough force in his good arm to keep Sarah in place. Opening her eyes she looked at him in confusion, and then with the most adorable pout that he just wanted to kiss from her face, "Your breaking my condition Chuck, this better be good."

"Good um no... Important yes. Sarah, Casey came in while you were sleeping" Chuck was expecting Sarah to show embarrassment knowing that Casey would have seen her sleeping on his bed, but apparently she was eager for him to get to the point so that she could continue where she left of, "He wants us to meet him in the conference room for a debriefing" It grew eerily quiet the moment the words left his lips and the only sounds in the room came from the medical equipment monitoring Chuck's condition.

Without a word Sarah had closed her eyes and stopped all movement, he wasn't really sure what she was doing but just before the silence became unbearable and he was about to ask her what she was doing, she seemed to snap out of it and began to climb of the bed, "Ok Chuck wait here and I'll go grab some sweats and a shirt you can wear rather than that hospital gown." And with that Sarah was out of the room like a rocket.

That seemed a little too easy in his opinion but Chuck thought it best not to look a gift horse in the mouth and started to climb of the bed himself and up into a sitting position on its edge.

After a while Sarah walked back into the room with a bundle in her arms, he wasn't sure why she frowned when she saw him sitting up on the bed but she quickly got rid of it and placed the clothes on the bed next to him.

Sarah held on to his hands and pulled him of the hospital bed with a quick tug, he was a little wobbly on his feet at first and Sarah had to help keep him steady. He sent her a smile of thanks and waited for her to leave the room so that he could get ready, but after a minute Sarah was still not showing signs of moving and also looked a little confused as to what they were waiting for.

"Soooo I'm going to get changed now" Sarah nodded her head and gestured to the clothes laying next to him in a pile on the bed, "Go ahead, they should fit fine.

"Um...in privacy maybe."

Sarah rolled her eyes at his statement, " Don't be a baby Chuck, with those injuries your going to have a hard time getting changed by yourself and I'm here to help, I don't want you injuring yourself because your being stubborn. I need you in fighting shape as soon as possible." She finished with a saucy wink, and Chuck was forced to swallow and hope to whatever deity was blessing him with Sarah Walker's presence that he wasn't drooling like an idiot.

"Still I think I can managed to put on some sweats by myself" Sarah didn't seem to agree as she picked up a black shirt from the pile and let it drop between their feet on the floor.

"Alright if you don't need my help after all you shouldn't have any problem picking that up, clumsy me always dropping things." Chuck gave her the stink eye already feeling the ache that would erupt in his side if he even attempted to get that low.

He figured if it had to be done then he best just get on with it and started to undo his medical gown at the back, whilst Sarah already anticipating his surrender was picking the shirt back up from the ground.

To Sarah's credit she was completely professional whilst she was helping him change into the black shirt and grey sweats. Chuck had never been really been embarrassed by his body, even before he put on the muscle from the spy training still it was a little disconcerting to have his...What? Girlfriend? See him naked before they had even had their first real date.

It didn't help that while yes Sarah was acting like a complete professional as she helped him pull on the clothes, but a few times she would 'accidentally' take a squeeze of his ass instead of gripping onto the band of the sweats. The first time he genuinely believed it to be an accident and left it at that, but after the 3rd time he couldn't help but suspect it wasn't an accident anymore. For a crazy moment he thought he might ask her, but he figured out quickly that she would deny it or admit it and either way she most likely would have no intentions of stopping.

After a few close calls getting changed Chuck was finally looking somewhat respectable, not exactly mission briefing respectable but he figured it had to be better than having his naked butt visible to anyone who walked behind him.

Checking himself over for a few moments and moving his arm trapped in the white cast he hadn't noticed Sarah pulling a wheelchair from the back of the room and bringing it over to him. Noticing her presence next to him he turned his head and saw for the first time the wheelchair sitting in front of her and he didn't need his genius level intellect to know what she wanted.

"Oh I'm so not getting in that thing"

"I think you'll find you are Chuck" She seemed to be pleasant at the moment, most likely still happy from their recent confessions to each other, but he could quickly see her frustration building in reaction to how stubborn he had been so far.

"Sarah I'm fine its mostly just my shoulder and side, I can walk fine. Besides normally I'd jump at the chance to sit in that chair, pull off a few wheely stunts or whatever but since I figured we got stuff to do and you'll be the one watching over me your probably not going to let me do any of the good stuff. All in all I don't want the chair."

"I should warn you that I used up my nice approach when you were being stubborn about the clothes, so now if you don't get that butt of yours in this chair and let me take care of you" Maybe it was the drugs still making their way through his system and he was just hallucinating but he could have sworn he noticed her knuckles go white from her grip on the wheelchair. "Well lets just say you'll see my not so nice approach."

"Don't underestimate what I'll do to keep you healthy and safe."

He didn't want to push his luck but he really didn't want to be wheeled into a room with Casey and his superiors, the big man would definitely make fun of him for being a baby.

"...**3!" **3? 3 What?

"...2!" _Shit! Chair! Chair! _

Faster than a man with his wounds should have, Chuck had quickly placed himself in the chair before Sarah and kept his mouth shut while he did it. He hadn't been on the receiving end of her icy glare for a while and to be honest he never really wanted to be again. Seemingly content at Chuck's obedience she readjusted her grip on the chair before wheeling him out of the hospital room and down the corridor towards the conference room.

It didn't take long really not a lot stood between Sarah Walker and where she wanted to go, personally he was just glad she didn't try to use him as a battering ram.

Walking up to the door she turned Chuck around briefly so that she could activate the retina id lock, hearing a distinctive click he was then slowly wheeled into the room backwards. When Sarah turned him around Chuck was met with a smirking Casey, no surprise there. A gentle smile from Director Graham and finally there was that oh so typical scowl on the dear General Diane Beckman's face, it was probably military issue.

He'd first met the General about a year into his service as a CIA field agent and at the time he was still struggling with the concept of being respectable and not cracking jokes, in short being a stick in the mud and if he was honest he was still struggling with that concept a little.

So as a consequence Chuck and Beckman had not gotten of to a very good start, it seems she didn't really have the same appreciation as Graham when it came to his way of spying.

To this day she regularly threatened to have him removed from active field service and he regularly did his best to be a thorn in her side. Normally he was not one who enjoyed being hated or actively trying to piss someone off but he almost thought of it like a game when it came to the General. Besides no matter how much she disliked him no one, not even her could argue with the results he produced.

"Casey, Director Graham..." Chuck nodded to each of them in turn before facing the General on the monitor, "...Wicked witch of the west"

He could hear Sarah's eyes pretty much bug out of her head at his insubordination. He'd forgotten that she wasn't really used to seeing him act like this in front of their superiors. Casey and Beckman simultaneously let out a low growl but the Director simply smiled slyly already used to it. Chuck had long suspected that it was a secret pleasure of Graham's to watch him and Beckman go at it, so long as he didn't suffer any of the backlash that is.

"Agent Walker...Carmichael" He didn't miss that she hadn't referred to him as agent, but he'd long grown used to that. Chuck was well aware that she didn't see him as a real agent but more like a performing monkey, and to be honest he was ok with that, "Glad to see you finally decided to join us" It had slipped his mind; how subtle she could be when it came to that sarcasm of hers.

"Your welcome I wouldn't miss this for the world...Ma'am" Well two could play that game, and the best part was he could blame it on the morphine. Not that anyone would believe him but hey not like they could call him out on it.

Thankfully the Director decided to interfere before they could really get into it, already sensing that if he didn't they would get nothing done, " How are you feeling Agent Carmichael? I have the doctor's reports on your physical condition but do you believe you'll be able to return to active field duty?"

He figured this would come up at some point. It was pretty common when an agent was captured that they were to go through some kind of medical assessment both physical and mental. He was hurting but he knew in the long run it was superficial damage, some basic rehab for his shoulder and he would be back at his best in a month or two.

"Nothing painkillers and some hospital gello wont cure Sir"

"That's good Carmichael. We'll talk about the rest of your treatment in a few moments but first things first, I assumed you've been informed that this is now a joint operation between the CIA & NSA, and that Major John Casey here will be the new permanent member of your team.

"Yes Sir. Casey and I have worked with each other previously I have no problem with him joining the team."Chuck was more than aware that he didn't have a choice in the matter whether he agreed to it or not. Still he figured it might put Graham's mind at ease if he knew that Chuck wasn't going to cause any problems over it.

"Good. Now you'll be under going a preliminary two weeks of rehab as well as mental assessments over the course of a month, both will be increased if found necessary by your doctors so don't be difficult with this Charles." Chuck held back the deep sigh trying to escape, he knew it was coming but he did not feel like being poked and prodded for a month.

"At the same time we will also have you all move to the next location in the operation and once Agent Carmichael has been cleared for duty you shall all be taking part in missions once again.

"Where is the location? Europe? Asia?" Sarah spoke for the first times since they had entered the room together.

"No this time you'll be staying domestic, The information Major Casey retrieved during the rescue op..." General Beckman was interrupted from a well timed cough from the Director, "With assistance from Carmichael, the information we received points to multiple activities and agents stationed in America that we can now finally root out. You'll be flying out to Burbank, California in a few days."

"Burbank!" Chuck had almost pushed himself out of the chair in his shock.

"Yes Carmichael, Burbank. We believe you already have a cover there that we can take advantage of whilst you perform you mission."

"Cover! General that's my life! Director you swore to me that I wouldn't have to operate out of Burbank ever, you swore that they would never have to get involved." He didn't need to look to see the surprise on Casey and Sarah's faces. They probably had no idea why he was freaking out although he suspected they wouldn't be long in catching up.

"Suck it up Carmichael, this is a lot more important than you. Most of the information we have gathered points to heavy operations inside Burbank, someone needs to do it and your the ideal candidate. Not that I like it myself." Beckman again and her lack of concern with involving civilians in covert operations. This is one of the reasons Chuck had grown to be so at odds with the General, she had good intentions but she often didn't care what she had to do to fulfil them.

"I'm not letting them get involved in this, they were never supposed to find out what I do!"

"Charles they don't have to know. Go home pretend to be on vacation for the first couple of weeks until we decide how long operations will last in Burbank. If the mission takes longer than estimated we'll set up a semi permanent cover for you out their, new job something of the sort. Keep your cover intact, perform the missions with your team, and spend time with your family. I know its not ideal but it needs to be done.

Damn! If even Graham was pushing him for this, knowing full well his reservations with working so close to his family it could only mean they really did need him to do this.

This went against everything he had ever signed on for when he was recruited. Putting his own life at risk was one thing, but even before he truly understood the extent of danger out there in the real world, putting Ellie's life at risk was not acceptable.

The more he thought about it however the more he realised that if he agreed or not the General was going to send a team to Burbank. Wouldn't it be better if at least he was in the team and could watch out for his family. It was unlikely a random team would have an encounter with his sister if Chuck wasn't involved, but he still wasn't comfortable knowing they were conducting dangerous missions in such close proximity to her. He really had no choice in the matte.

"Be the spy you were trained to be Carmichael." Beckman's voice flooded his ears as he closed his eyes and nodded his head in acceptance and surrender.

* * *

**Ugh my English was so bad in this chapter. I'm in such a rush I had to cut the ending because it was getting too big, so I didn't get to put in a lot of stuff I wanted to. Didn't get a lot of time to check over this before I'm posting it. In short even though I'm confident in the content I really think the writing had a long way to go this chapter. **

**But hey like I said I'm pretty sure I wrote some good stuff that you lot will enjoy. At least thats the plan. **

**So let me know what you think I truly cant wait to read and pluck at your thoughts...in the morning I will anyway. **


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